SEXUAL PREDATOR CAPTURED

James M. Wahlrab, United States Marshal for the Southern District of Ohio announces the arrest of Eric Benson. Benson was wanted by the Houston County (Georgia) Sheriffs Office for violating his probation. Benson was on probation due to an original charge of child molestation. Last April, Benson was arrested by Dayton Deputy Marshals for the same charge. Unfortunately for Benson, he failed to learn from that arrest and returned to the Dayton area. Last week, Dayton U.S. Marshals received information that Benson had returned to the Dayton area and was therefore once again in violation of the terms of his Georgia probation.

At approximately 6am this morning, Deputy U.S. Marshals knocked on the door of a house located in the 200 block of Lexington Avenue where they believed Benson was residing. The Deputy Marshals were greeted by the girlfriend of Benson who informed them Benson was not in the house and she had not seen him since the April arrest. After intense questioning and the possibility of facing jail time for harboring a fugitive, the girlfriend admitted that he was hiding in the attic. The Deputy Marshals forced open the attic door and arrested Benson. Houston County Sheriff Deputies believe Benson had fled Georgia in an attempt to elude capture. Due to the severity of the original crime, non-compliance of state and federal law, and the helplessness of the victim, the U.S. Marshals made locating and arresting Benson once again a high priority. Benson is awaiting extradition at the Montgomery County Jail.

The U.S. Marshals Service was America’s first federal law enforcement agency and each year arrests more fugitives than all other federal law enforcement agencies combined.