By Steve Neavling
A jury found a CBP agent guilty of kidnapping after he was accused of abducting a 15-year-old student by her Arizona middle school and then raping her for hours at his apartment in 2022, The Miami Herald reports.
Aaron Thomas Mitchell was convicted of deprivation of rights under color of law and kidnapping a minor after two days of jury deliberations on Friday.
During an interview with police, Mitchell “exclaimed that the victim ‘better hope I don’t get out of here,’” prosecutors said.
Mitchell saw the girl waiting outside her school and demanded her papers, flashed his badge, and ordered her to get in his car, prosecutors said.
After telling the girl he was driving her to a police station, he handcuffed her hands and feet a few miles from the school, according to prosecutors.
At the trial, the victim “testified that, after being handcuffed, the defendant told her to do everything he said because he didn’t want to have to hurt her,” prosecutors said.
Mitchell later dropped the girl off at the same spot he kidnapped her.
Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarkes called Mitchell’s actions “heinous” in a statement and said he “had a duty to protect his community but instead he abused his power, kidnapped, cuffed and restrained a young girl, and repeatedly sexually assaulted her in his apartment for hours.”
“With this verdict, the jury has done us all a great service by holding accountable this former federal law enforcement official,” Clarke said.
Mitchell faces up to life in prison when he’s sentenced at a yet-to-be-scheduled date.
