MESA, Ariz. — A convicted sex offender is in custody after he reportedly faked his own death to avoid registering in Arizona. The man was caught living under an alias with an unsuspecting family, including young children, according to authorities.
Benjamin Hollins, 50, who was first convicted as a sex offender more than 20 years ago in California, was arrested Tuesday after investigators tracked him down in Mesa, Arizona, reported ABC 15.
After a months-long manhunt, Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb said, “Nice try, Benjamin. We found you. You’re not dead. We’re going to hold you accountable.”
In addition to his status as a sex offender in California, Hollins kidnapped and tried to molest a 16-year-old female in 2018, the sheriff said. At the time, Hollins worked as a behavioral health counselor in Arizona City — an unincorporated census-designated place in southwestern Pinal County — and the victim was a client.
As a result of the 2018 offense, Hollins accepted a plea bargain and was merely sentenced to supervised probation, which required him to annually register as a sex offender, the New York Post reported.
In October 2023, Hollins asked a woman to file a false police report saying she had witnessed him die by suicide after leaping from the Roosevelt Lake Bridge, the sheriff said.
“A lot of resources were wasted looking for his body, which was clearly not found because he wasn’t dead,” Lamb noted.
Since Hollins wanted authorities to believe he was dead as he began living under an assumed name, he allowed his mandate to register as a sex offender to lapse.
Benjamin Hollins (Pinal County Sheriff’s Office)
Despite the report of his suicide, the Chandler Police Department was skeptical and tried for months to find him.
On Tuesday, Chandler investigators along with other law enforcement authorities found Hollins living — under a bogus name — with a family with young children in Mesa. The family was unaware of his background as a sex offender.
“He was a little bit surprised to see us,” Lamb said. “Great work by my deputies, detectives, and Chandler PD for keeping this guy accountable for his actions… despite his best attempts to disappear.”
Hollins was subsequently booked at the Pinal County Jail. It’s unclear what charges he will face.
