A man in Arizona was arrested earlier this week after allegedly faking his own death to avoid registering as a sex offender, according to the Pinal County Sheriff's Office.
Benjamin Hollins, 50, originally convicted as a sex offender more than 20 years ago in California, was arrested Tuesday after Chandler Police Department officers located him living in a home in Mesa, Ariz. under a false identity.
The sheriff's office did not say why police were looking for him or how they found him.
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Benjamin Hollins, 50, was arrested Tuesday for faking his own death to avoid registering as a sex offender, according to the Pinal County Sheriff's Office. (Pinal County Sheriff's Office)
Hollins lived in Arizona City in 2018 and had not registered as a sex offender outside of California, according to a sheriff's office Facebook post. He also worked as a behavioral health counselor.
During this job, Hollins kidnapped and attempted to molest a 16-year-old client. He was sentenced to supervised probation after taking a plea deal, which required him to register annually as a sex offender.
He did not follow through on that demand and attempted to fake his own death in October 2023, the sheriff's office said.
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A woman, who was not identified, told police she saw Hollins commit suicide by jumping from the Theodore Roosevelt Lake Dam bridge between Gila and Maricopa counties.
“A lot of resources were wasted searching for his body, which clearly was not found because he was not dead,” Sheriff Mark Lamb said.
Hollins, 50, lived in a house in Mesa, Arizona, and was living under a false identity. (Pinal County Sheriff's Office)
Hollins' sex offender registration expired when he was “dead,” according to the sheriff's office, and when he was found in Mesa, he was living with a family with young children.
The family had “no idea of his history,” the sheriff’s office wrote.
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Lamb explained Hollins' arrest in a short video posted to Facebook Thursday.
“Nice try, Benjamin. We found you. You're not dead. We're going to hold you accountable,” Lamb said in the video.
Hollins is scheduled to appear in court Tuesday.