U.S. Border Agent Accused in Sexual Assault on an Illegal Alien
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A United States Border Patrol agent was arrested here on Wednesday after an undocumented El Salvadoran immigrant said the agent sexually assaulted her near the border. It was the latest in a series of accusations leveled against the patrol. The woman said she was assaulted shortly after dawn on Wednesday in a remote area near the Tijuana River. She complained to other Border Patrol agents, who then called the police. Detectives arrested Charles Vinson, 41, an agent for eight years, at his home in Chula Vista. Mr. Vinson was charged with multiple counts of felony sexual assault and held in lieu of $30,000 bail, said Border Patrol officials. He will be arraigned on Friday and has been placed on leave without pay. Officials said they are trying to determine whether Mr. Vinson was involved in another assault. Capt. Tom Hall of the San Diego Police Department said: “In a case earlier this year, in the same general area, the suspect possibly was in uniform. We’ll search for other cases.” In this case, the woman reported being raped by a man wearing a green Border Patrol uniform. She said he approached her at 6 A.M. as she was illegally crossing into the United States. She was alone, and she said the man assaulted her in a secluded canyon covered by brush, Capt. Hall said. After he left, she went to the road nearby and flagged down a Border Patrol unit, Captain Hall said. Source : query.nytimes.com |