The Longmont woman accused of grabbing a Transportation Security Administration agent was abducted when she was 7, contributing to a fear of being touched by strangers, she told KGNU radio station in Boulder.

Yukari Miyamae, 61, was arrested on suspicion of grabbing a female agent’s breast at a security gate at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport during a confrontation July 14.

Miyamae told KGNU, where she volunteers as a DJ, that she does not like being touched by strangers, the result of being abducted for several hours when she was a child living in Japan.

“I have a very strong sense of endangerment. I have a high alert system for my safety,” Miyamae said in the interview. “People don’t usually come near me that close.”

As a result, Miyamae — who said she often has had to fly through Phoenix since she began working as a translator in May — wanted to go through the metal detector instead of submitting to a patdown. She also wanted to avoid full-body scans since she is concerned about radiation exposure.

When she saw several people in front of her go through a metal detector at the security gate, she tried to follow. But a TSA agent told her that line was then closed and that she would have to submit to a patdown. When she protested, Miyamae said, several other agents surrounded her.

One of them, a tall female agent, went up to the 5-foot-tall Miyamae and was about to pat her down when, Miyamae said, she reached out and tried to stop her and accidentally touched the agent’s breast.

A nearby officer then asked the TSA agent if she wanted to charge Miyamae with sexual assault. Miyamae was arrested and taken to the airport jail.

A judge quickly dismissed felony sexual assault charges, telling Miyamae he found nothing sexual about the incident. She may still face misdemeanor charges, but she was released and allowed to travel back to Colorado.

Miyamae’s story quickly made national news, as many frustrated travelers sympathized with her story. While she appreciated the outpouring of support, Miyamae told KGNU what she did was never a form of protest about security measures.

“It was an instinctual moment — I just wanted to keep my space, my personal space from this oppressive presence,” she said.

Miyamae said she does not hold a grudge against the TSA agents, but she does object to the way airport security conducts patdowns.

“We want effective, truly secure airport security,” Miyamae said. “We want that. We also want all our citizens to feel safe in their own body.”

In the radio interview, she applauded a TSA agent at Denver International Airport on her flight back to Colorado who she said treated her much more compassionately.

When the agent saw Miyamae crying after the patdown, she advised her to use the metal detectors next time. She also warned her that a woman in Phoenix had been recently arrested at a security gate.

“I told her, ‘That was me,'” Miyamae said. “There was a conversation, an attempt to relate to me as a person. So much different than being treated as a thing or an animal.”

Contact Camera Staff Writer Mitchell Byars at 303-473-1329 or byarsm@dailycamera.com.