Border Patrol agent is found guilty of kidnapping 15-year-old Mexican girl outside school and then raping her for hours in his apartment
A Border Patrol agent has been found guilty of kidnapping a Mexican teenage girl outside an Arizona school and raping her for hours in his apartment.
Federal prosecutors have said Aaron Thomas Mitchell, 29, approached the 15-year-old girl wearing a tactical vest emblazoned with āPoliceā as she waited for classes to start at a high school in the Arizona border town of Douglas on April 25, 2022. Tucson Sentinel report.
He then “asked for her papers” and ordered the teen into his car, court records say. obtained by the Arizona Daily Independent shows that the teenager crossed the border from Agua Prieta in Sonora, Mexico to Douglas daily to attend classes.
Mitchell allegedly told the teen he would take her to a local police station, but instead stopped a few miles from her school and handcuffed her hands and feet.
He then told her “to do whatever he said because he didn’t want to hurt her,” the girl testified during a two-week trial, according to the Miami Herald.
Aaron Thomas Mitchell, 29, was found guilty Friday of kidnapping a Mexican teenage girl outside an Arizona school and raping her for hours in his apartment
Eventually, the two arrived at Mitchell’s apartment in Sierra Vista, where he forced the girl inside and raped her multiple times over several hours.
According to the Arizona Daily Independent, the girl said she was given alcohol at some point before Mitchell drove her back to Douglas.
He then “remind[ed]her not to tell anyone,” prosecutors said.
But the girl “immediately” reported the attack to her friends, family members and law enforcement, ABC 15 reports.
Her description of Mitchell’s apartment and the Border Patrol agent’s physical characteristics led to his arrest that same evening.
During an interview with police, Mitchell told the victim he better hope he doesn’t get away with it, prosecutors said.
A subsequent investigation also revealed that Mitchell had searched online on his phone several times for information about rape and “how to stop someone from screaming” while the girl was in his apartment.
He also searched for ‘how long does it take to strangle someone’.
Surveillance footage showed him approaching the girl outside a high school in Douglas on April 25, 2022
Mitchell was subsequently charged with 18 crimes ranging from kidnapping, obstructing a criminal investigation and multiple counts of sexual abuse and assault, according to the Daily Independent.
Other court documents show that the Cochise County Prosecutor’s Office obtained a court order at the time requiring Mitchell to be tested for several sexually transmitted diseases.
In July, he was also indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of kidnapping a minor.
He then turned himself in to federal authorities in Miami, Florida, where his parentsāboth retired police officersālive.
On Friday, a federal jury found him guilty of deprivation of rights under the law and kidnapping a minor.
The jury also found that his conduct consisted of serious sexual abuse, kidnapping and bodily harm.
Mitchell had been a Customs and Border Protection agent for less than a year before the incident
Deputy Attorney General Kristen Clarke applauded the decision, calling Mitchell’s actions “abhorrent.”
She said he had a duty to protect his community, but instead he abused his power, kidnapped, handcuffed and detained a young girl and repeatedly abused her in his apartment for hours.
āWith this verdict, the jury has done all of us a great service by holding this former federal law enforcement officer accountable,ā she said.
Mitchell, who worked as a Customs and Border Protection agent for less than a year, now faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.
His sentence is expected to be announced on November 20, but his attorney, Laura Udall, said they will “appeal this conviction.”