Ex-CIA Officer Guilty of Abusing Dozens of Women

UPDATE Nov 7, 2023 7:14 PM CST

A former CIA officer accused of drugging and sexually assaulting at least two dozen women during various overseas postings pleaded guilty Tuesday to federal sex abuse charges. Brian Jeffrey Raymond kept nearly 500 videos and photographs he took of naked, unconscious women, including many in which he can be seen opening their eyelids, groping, or straddling them, prosecutors say. The images date to 2006 and track much of Raymond's career, with victims in Mexico, Peru, and other countries, including the US, the AP reports. Under a plea deal, the 47-year-old faces between 24 and 30 years in prison, per Courthouse News Service. It could have been life in prison if he had gone to trial on charges including aggravated sexual abuse. The most serious charge was dropped as part of the deal.

Oct 30, 2020 10:29 AM CDT

A 23-year veteran of the US government who lately worked as first secretary at the US Embassy in Mexico is an "experienced sexual predator" with at least 22 victims, according to federal prosecutors. Brian Jeffrey Raymond, 44, was arrested in California on Oct. 9 and charged with videotaping and photographing a partially naked and unconscious woman he'd met on Tinder in Virginia, reports the New York Times. Prosecutors only became aware of that alleged 2017 encounter after Mexico City police found a "naked, hysterical woman desperately screaming for help" from the balcony of Raymond's Embassy-leased apartment on May 31, reports NBC News. That woman, whom Raymond had also met on Tinder, said she'd blacked out after Raymond gave her wine. She appeared to have been sexually assaulted, according to court documents.

Some 400 videos and photos featuring at least 21 naked, unconscious women were later found on Raymond's devices, according to the documents. In some, dating to 2011, Raymond could be seen touching the women while naked, prosecutors say. The woman Raymond had met in Virginia, who was featured in the images, told investigators that her legs gave out and she went to lie down after Raymond gave her wine, per the Times. She said she did not consent to being photographed or having her clothes removed. Raymond—whose search history allegedly included "Ambien and alcohol" and "passed out Black girl"—could face 20 years in prison if convicted of coercion and enticement in that case. He is to be held until trial, according to an Oct. 19 order from a judge, who called him a "danger to the community." (More sexual predator stories.)