FBI
Warning: This story contains descriptions of sexual assault.
A U.S. embassy employee accused of drugging and sexually abusing at least 24 women over a 14-year period was in fact a longtime CIA employee, the FBI said on Monday, as the bureau made all possible victims asked to report in the case.
Serial abuser Brian Jeffrey Raymond, 45, was arrested on October 9, 2020 in La Mesa, California, where he lived with his parents, after abruptly quitting his job at the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City. He pleaded guilty to two sexual abuse cases and one case of transporting obscene materials last July, and will have to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life after his eventual release from prison.
U.S. embassy workers videotaped and harassed unconscious women, the FBI says
FBI spokeswoman Samantha Shero confirmed to The Daily Beast that Raymond worked for the CIA while serving in the embassy in Mexico. She declined to give any further details about his exact position with the spy agency. A CIA spokesman told The Daily Beast that Raymond was fired after his arrest and said in an email statement, “The CIA strongly condemns the crimes committed by former agency agent Brian Jeffrey Raymond.”
As previously reported by The Daily Beast, the investigation into the experienced CIA man began after a passer-by on the terrace of an apartment rented by the US Embassy in Mexico City told a “naked, hysterical woman who was desperately crying out for help” discovered. Investigators later discovered nearly 500 photos and video recordings of numerous women who passed out in Raymond’s bed. Some of them feature a man holding the victims’ eyelids open, waving their limp arms and legs, or sticking his fingers in his mouth to show they are unconscious, according to court records.
US District Court for the District of Columbia
A naked and obviously aroused Raymond, who passed more than 10 polygraph exams during his government career, is depicted in several of the pictures.
Raymond, who speaks Spanish and Mandarin Chinese and has worked in at least six different countries in about 20 years of federal service that Raymond’s defense team described as “exemplary,” met his unsuspecting victims on Bumble, Hinge, and other dating apps. After meeting Raymond on a date, his victims reported that they “drank alcohol supplied and / or prepared by Raymond and suffered memory loss during their time with Raymond,” according to Raymond’s consent. At least nine of Raymond’s attacks occurred in his official government residence.
Raymond’s online footprint was next to nonexistent, and his vague job description led to speculation that he was more of an undercover agent than a State Department employee.
He continued his heinous rape spree even after he knew he was being investigated and then unsuccessfully tried to clear the incriminating evidence from his phone, according to documents. None of the women were able to consent when they were attacked, none agreed to be recorded in that state, and few, according to authorities, had a memory of the events in question. Investigators uncovered “numerous” chats between Raymond and the women he attacked, apologizing for the blackout, asking Raymond if they had sex and apparently unable to remember what happened the night before.
When investigators examined Raymond’s online search history, they found that he had searched for terms such as “passed out black girl”, “deep sleep”, “ambien and alcohol and fainting”, “dissolve” and “unconscious and worn”. A series of photos showed Raymond abusing an unconscious woman, exposing her chest and pulling down her shorts. The next morning, according to investigators, Raymond texted the woman.
“[H] opely you’re not too hungover today,” he said.
“Hey!” replied the woman who obviously didn’t know what had happened. “Yesterday was tough. I had a massive hangover … lol. I had fun too! We have to do it again. ”
On their second date, the woman and Raymond went to a wine bar and then back to their house where they opened a bottle of red wine to share. At some point she left the bottle unattended while the two stepped onto the balcony. When Raymond went in to use the bathroom, he came out with the bottle of wine and refilled her two glasses. But the woman soon felt lightheaded and felt like she was going to pass out. The last thing she remembered was telling Jeffrey to lie down. The woman later woke up in bed with a fully clothed Jeffrey beside her.
Although she still had trouble standing, the woman – who had no idea she was being sexually assaulted until she was questioned by investigators – noted that Raymond did not appear to be affected at all.
Raymond was arrested outside a California gym last October. Just a few days before he was caught, he spent the night with a woman he met online who told police that she “thinks she had sex with [Raymond] at least three times, but she has little memories of them.” Encounters “, court records indicated.
Raymond is due to appear in federal court in Washington D.C. on February 7. to be judged. His lawyers did not respond to a request for comment.
October 26, 2021
in International