A U.S. Border Patrol agent was arrested in Texas on charges of sexually assaulting a child more than 20 times over the course of five years while supervising other agents and working with immigrant children apprehended at the Mexican border, the Washington Examiner has learned.
The Brewster County Sheriff’s Department served a felony warrant to 42-year-old Michael William Barends of Alpine, Texas, on Jan. 17 and took him into custody that day. Barends is accused of molesting a girl beginning in January 2015, when the child was 12 years old. He did so on many occasions, until June 2019, according to law enforcement documents shared with the Washington Examiner.
Two Border Patrol officials familiar with Barends said he joined the agency in 2003 or 2004, and that he previously was stationed in Detroit, Michigan, and in Yuma, Arizona, prior to being relocated to Texas. As a supervisor, he was considered to be a part of management within the Big Bend Sector, one of nine agency regions along the southern border.
The victim was identified as Barends’ stepdaughter, who told her boyfriend, a student at her high school, that the man had sexually assaulted her for years. The boyfriend reported it to a school guidance counselor who reached out to law enforcement on Jan. 13. Authorities were able to bring in the girl and her mother for an interview on Jan. 16.
The victim told authorities that Barends would abuse her at night when everyone in the house was asleep or when he was alone with her. He touched and penetrated her and told his stepdaughter “that this would benefit her,” according to the complaint and affidavit. He also asked that she touch him, but she refused, according to the affidavit.
Barends’ bond was set at $200,000, and he was released Tuesday, according to documents. Alpine is a remote town with fewer than 6,000 residents and is located between El Paso and San Antonio, Texas.
Barends was known by agents as “Chicken Little” for glasses he wore while on duty.
Brandon Judd, the president of the National Border Patrol Council union that represents rank-and-file agents but not management, told the Washington Examiner the agency should put him on administrative duty until his legal case is resolved in court. Barends would have had to have reported the arrest to his boss last Saturday, per agency protocols.
Judd said the agency’s internal affairs office will have to look back at the children he has had contact with. “The agency has the responsibility to do the due diligence to make sure there was nobody else that was harmed,” Judd said.
“It’s very disappointing,” said Judd, who claimed the agency’s culture might have been a factor in this incident. “The overall culture in the Border Patrol — you see management picking which policies they want to follow. That permeates throughout the entire agency, and that is a culture issue. When people see there are people getting away with things, then they also think they can get away with things. It always starts small.”
Barends’ arrest is the third of a Border Patrol employee in this region of Texas in recent history, one official said.
“Until there is an attitude of accountability within this agency, I think we an expect to continue to see this,” Judd said.
Last summer, ProPublica exposed a secret Facebook page where agents wrote offensive and derogatory comments about immigrant children in custody, as well as Democrats.
UPDATE: Customs and Border Protection, which oversees Border Patrol, issued a statement confirming the arrest following the Washington Examiner report.
“CBP takes all allegations of misconduct very seriously and does not tolerate criminal activity within its ranks. CBP is cooperating with the investigation and will defer to the Brewster County Sheriff’s Office for additional information,” the statement said.
The agency did not say if it plans to investigate Barends’ previous work with children.
Warning: The official documents below contain graphic descriptions that are disturbing.
