Man fakes his own death to avoid registering as sex offender in new state, AZ cops say

A 50-year-old man faked his death so he didn’t have to register as a sex offender in a new state, Arizona officials said. He’s been arrested.

Over 20 years ago, Benjamin Hollins was convicted as a sex offender in California, according to a May 16 Facebook post by the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office, which didn’t specify the charges he was convicted of then.

In 2018, Hollins was living in Arizona City, Arizona, and hadn’t registered as a sex offender, officials said.

There, he sexually abused a 16-year-old client while he was working as a behavioral counselor, deputies said.

He was sentenced to supervised probation and had to register as a sex offender every year, officials said.

In October, a woman helped Hollins file a fake report saying he died, deputies said. She told police she saw him jump off a bridge, according to the Facebook post.

After Hollins was “dead,” though no body was found, his sex offender registration lapsed, deputies said.

Hollins was then found using a fake name and living with a family who didn’t know about his history, officers said.

He was arrested on May 14 and booked into the Pinal County jail, deputies said.

Arizona City is about a 60-mile drive southeast of Phoenix.