A Mexican family initiated the case by saying a Border Patrol agent fondled women during searches.

SUSAN CARROLL
The Arizona Republic

NOGALES - The United States will pay a Mexican woman and her family $50,000 in a settlement of charges stemming from an alleged sexual assault by a former U.S. Border Patrol agent. Former agent Matthew Hemmer was arrested in August 2000 on state charges of kidnapping, sexual assault and sexual abuse.

Hemmer was accused of taking a family of five to a remote area near Mariposa Canyon and fondling women's breasts during repeated "pat-down" searches.

After taking the group to the Border Patrol station in Nogales, Hemmer returned four family members to Mexico but took a 21-year-old woman to a remote area of the desert and sexually assaulted her before dropping her off at the border, according to the criminal complaint.

In May 2002, Hemmer pleaded guilty to aggravated assault for transporting the woman in a Border Patrol vehicle without telling her where they were going, according to his lawyer.

If Hemmer successfully completes 36 months' probation, his crime will be recorded as a misdemeanor. Hemmer moved to Colorado shortly after pleading guilty.

Roberto Burgos, spokesman for the Mexican consul in Nogales, said most of the $50,000 was designated for the woman, although her two female relatives who accused Hemmer of fondling their breasts will receive a share for "mental anguish."

The formal settlement papers were not yet filed yesterday in U.S. District Court in Tucson.