Former CIA officer Brian Jeffrey Raymond, who pleaded guilty to drugging and sexually assaulting over two dozen women, was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison on Wednesday after a hearing in which the judge called him a “predator.”
Raymond, 48, pleaded guilty to four of 25 federal counts, including sexual abuse, coercion and transportation of obscene material. Prosecutors called him a serial predator who caused “immeasurable” harm while he was stationed overseas between 2006 and 2020 and sought a 30-year sentence for Raymond.
On Wednesday, following an emotional hearing where victims recounted their traumatic experiences at the hands of Raymond, U.S. Senior Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly handed the former CIA officer the full 30 years in federal prison.
“It’s safe to say he’s a sexual predator,” Kollar-Kotelly said while imposing the sentence. “You are going to have a period of time to think about this.”
In addition, as part of his sentence, Raymond has been ordered to pay $10,000 to each of his 28 identified victims.
Raymond’s crimes were uncovered in 2020 when a naked woman screamed for help from his apartment balcony in Mexico City. This led to an investigation that uncovered hundreds of images and videos of unconscious victims, many of whom had no memory of the assaults.
According to prosecutors, Raymond had lured women he met on dating apps like Tinder to his government-leased apartment and drugged them. After they were unconscious, he spent hours posing their naked bodies before photographing and assaulting them.
“My body looks like a corpse on his bed,” one victim said of the photos. “Now I have these nightmares of seeing myself dead.”
One by one, about a dozen of Raymond’s victims, who were identified only by numbers in court on Wednesday, recounted their experience.
“I hope he is haunted by the consequences of his actions for the rest of his life,” said another one of the women on Wednesday.
Newsweek reached out to the CIA via online email form for comment.
Former CIA officer Brian Jeffrey Raymond. Raymond, found guilty of drugging and sexually assaulting 28 women, was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison on Wednesday.
FBI/AP
Meanwhile, this case is part of a broader concern within the CIA over sexual misconduct. Recently, another veteran CIA officer was charged with sexual assault in Virginia, and additional accusations have surfaced against other employees at the agency. However, this misconduct remains shrouded in secrecy, as internal investigations and reports remain classified under national security.
It comes after the CIA found systemic shortcomings in the agency’s handling of sexual misconduct complaints, according to a recent internal watchdog report that was classified as “secret,” according to a new report by the Associated Press.
The AP detailed several cases in which CIA workers claimed they were victims of unwanted sexual advances and physical attacks in a story published last week. While the cases are public knowledge as they were or are currently being litigated in court, the CIA’s response to such complaints was kept in the dark as they were reportedly deemed a potential threat to national security.
The CIA told the AP that the watchdog report, which detailed the problem and case histories of alleged sexual misconduct within the agency, was kept classified in a decision made by its inspector general, who conducted the inquiry.
“It is inconceivable that sexual misconduct could be considered a state secret,” Kevin Carroll, an attorney for several women in the CIA who have made complaints, previously told the AP.
The recent watchdog report came after an AP investigation, which was reported on in August 2023, found that at least 20 female CIA workers disclosed to authorities and Congress accounts of sexual assaults, unwanted touching and what they described as a campaign to silence them.
Former CIA case officer Lindsay Moran previously told the AP that sexual misconduct has long been a problem in the male-dominated agency and became worse after the 9/11 terrorist attacks when the focus shifted to deploying secret combat units to Afghanistan and Iraq.
“They brought their own brand of male toxicity that was like gasoline on the old-boys network that already existed,” Moran said. “National security is used as an excuse to brush these concerns under the carpet.”
This article includes reporting from the Associated Press.
