A former CIA officer accused of drugging and sexually abusing at least two dozen women during several foreign deployments pleaded guilty to federal sex abuse charges Tuesday in Washington, which could place him in prison for up to 30 years.
Prosecutors say Brian Jeffrey Raymond stored roughly 500 recordings and images of naked, unconscious women, many of which show him lifting their eyelids, touching or straddling them. The photographs originate from 2006 and cover a large portion of Raymond’s career, including victims in Mexico, Peru, and other nations.
The case was the latest humiliation for the CIA, which has under scrutiny in recent months for its sometimes covert and outdated handling of sexual misconduct allegations within the spy agency.
According to the Associated Press, at least a dozen women have come forward to inform authorities and Congress about sexual assaults, unwanted groping, and what they believe are CIA efforts to quiet them. In August, a CIA officer trainee was convicted of assault and battery for tying a scarf around a colleague’s neck and attempting to kiss her inside a stairway at the agency’s Langley, Va. headquarters.
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The CIA has publicly condemned Raymond’s actions, and CIA Director William Burns announced a number of measures in May to simplify claims, protect victims, and penalize individuals implicated in wrongdoing more rapidly.
“As this case demonstrates, we are committed to working with law enforcement to ensure that justice is served,” stated the CIA in a statement. “In addition, we take any allegations of sexual assault or sexual harassment extremely seriously and have taken significant steps to ensure we maintain a safe, inclusive and respectful environment for our workforce.”
Raymond’s lawyer did not reply to calls for comment.
Prosecutors characterized Raymond, 47, as an experienced sexual predator who kept a precise list of possible victims arranged by name, race, and physical traits.
Investigators combed through his gadgets and discovered a damning web search history for terms like “Ambien and alcohol and pass out” and “vodka & valium.” Raymond asked an internet pharmacy, “Hello, do you have chloral hydrate for insomnia?”
Raymond was stationed in Mexico City when he was detained three years ago, when he met women on dating apps and invited them over to his embassy-leased flat for cocktails.
The San Diego native, who speaks Spanish and Mandarin, was discovered in 2020 when a nude lady he met on Tinder cried for aid from his balcony, causing a concerned neighbor to phone the police. U.S. officials combed through Raymond’s electronic gadgets and began identifying the victims, all of whom claimed to have had some type of memory loss while with him. Prosecutors planned to call up to 14 alleged victims throughout the trial.
Raymond dropped his earlier guilty plea in the case last year after successfully challenging the inclusion of some images that the court found were improperly acquired from his mobile phones after officials forced him to give up his passcode. Other photographs on Raymond’s iCloud account were deleted.
Raymond pled guilty to four of the 25 criminal charges against him, including sexual assault, compulsion, and transportation of obscene material. According to the terms of the bargain published on Tuesday, he faces between 24 and 30 years in jail when sentenced in September.
