Tucson BP agent charged with multiple counts of sexual assault

Posted May 22, 2019

Paul Ingram
TucsonSentinel.com

TPDBorder Patrol Agent Steven Charles Holmes, 33, was arrested by Tucson Police officers Tuesday and charged with three counts of sexual assault and three counts of aggravated assault, police said.

A Border Patrol agent was arrested by Tucson police Tuesday for allegedly sexually assaulting a woman, and an investigation uncovered "multiple victims" over a seven-year period, authorities said.

Steven Charles Holmes, 33, was arrested Tuesday after a woman told police last week that she was sexually assaulted by the agent, a Tucson Police Department spokesman said.

The woman told police that she met Holmes while using an online dating app, and during their conversations he told her he was a Border Patrol agent. She told detectives that the two went out on a date, and Holmes allegedly assaulted her, Officer Ray Smith said.

During the investigation begun last Monday after the woman went to police, detectives uncovered "multiple victims with similar reports occurring from January 2012 to January 2019," Smith said.

Holmes faces three counts of sexual assault and three counts of aggravated assault, Smith said. Court records and police reports on the case were not immediately available.

Meredith Mingledorff, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokeswoman, confirmed that Holmes, an agent based at the Tucson Station, was arrested on Tuesday. Holmes has been with the agency for seven years, and has been placed on "administrative duties pending the outcome of the investigation," she said.

"The U.S. Border Patrol stresses honor and integrity in every aspect of its mission. We do not tolerate misconduct on, or off duty, and will fully cooperate with all investigations of alleged misconduct by our personnel. Please see the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Standards of Conduct Policy," she said.