A longtime CIA operative who drugged, photographed and sexually assaulted more than two dozen women stationed around the world was sentenced Wednesday to 30 years in federal prison after an emotional hearing in which victims described being deceived by a man who seemed kind, educated and part of an agency “that is supposed to protect the world from evil.”
Brian Jeffrey Raymond, with his graying beard and orange jumpsuit, sat dejected as he heard his punishment for one of the most egregious cases of misconduct in CIA history. The case was chronicled in his own library of more than 500 images that show him in some cases straddling and groping his naked, unconscious victims.
“It’s safe to say that this is a sexual predator,” U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly said in imposing the full sentence prosecutors had sought. “You’re going to have some time to think about this.”
Prosecutors say the attacks on Raymond, 48, date back to 2006 and followed his career in Mexico, Peru and other countries, all following a similar pattern.
He would lure women he met on Tinder and other dating apps to his government-rented apartment and drug them while serving them wine and snacks. Once they were unconscious, he would spend hours posing with their naked bodies before photographing and assaulting them. He would sometimes pry open their eyelids and put his fingers in their mouths.
U.S. Embassy and Consulates in Mexico
One by one, a dozen of Raymond’s victims, identified only by numbers in court, told how the longtime spy upended their lives. Some said they learned what had happened only after the FBI showed them photos of their assault while they were unconscious.
“My body looks like a corpse on the bed,” one victim said of the photos. “Now I have nightmares about being dead.”
One of them described suffering a nervous breakdown. Another spoke of a recurring trance state that led her to run red lights while driving. Several spoke of how their trust in others had been shattered forever.
“I hope he’s haunted by the consequences of his actions for the rest of his life,” said one of the women, who, like others, looked down on Raymond as they walked away from the podium.
Reading a statement, Raymond told the judge he had spent countless hours thinking about his “downward spiral.”
“It betrayed everything I stand for and I know no apology will ever be enough,” he said. “There are no words to describe how sorry I am. This is not who I am and yet this is who I have become.”
In October 2021, the FBI issued an advisory to the public seeking additional potential victims and information about Raymond, stating that some women depicted in the incriminating photos and videos remain unidentified.
In a statement released Wednesday, authorities commended all victims who came forward.
“The FBI thanks the courageous women who shared information that advanced this investigation,” he said.
David Sundberg, FBI Assistant Director in Washington. “We honor our domestic and foreign law enforcement partners who helped bring Raymond to justice for his reprehensible crimes.”
Raymond’s conviction comes amid debate over sexual abuse within the CIA. The Associated Press reported last week that another veteran CIA officer was accused of lifting up a colleague’s skirt and forcibly kissing her during a drunken office party.
Another former CIA employee, a trainee officer, is due to appear before a jury next month on charges he attacked a woman wearing a headscarf in a stairwell at the agency’s headquarters in Langley, Virginia. The case has prompted about two dozen women to come forward to authorities and Congress about their own experiences of sexual assault, unwanted touching and what they say were CIA efforts to silence them.
And yet the extent of sexual misconduct within the CIA remains a classified secret in the name of national security, including a recent 648-page internal oversight report that revealed systemic failings in the agency’s handling of such complaints.
“The agency’s secrecy allowed it to hide a lot,” says Liza Mundy, author of Sisterhood: The Secret History of Women at the CIA. The male-dominated agency has long been a haven for egregious sexual abuse. “For decades, men at the top had carte blanche.”
The CIA publicly condemned Raymond’s crimes and implemented radical reforms The measure aims to ensure the safety of women, simplify complaints procedures and punish offenders more quickly.
Last year, the CIA announcement the appointment of Dr. Taleeta Jackson, a veteran psychologist who previously headed the U.S. Navy’s sexual assault prevention program, to head an office dedicated to sexual assault and prevention at the CIA.
“There is absolutely no excuse for Mr. Raymond’s reprehensible and appalling behavior,” the agency said Wednesday. “As this case demonstrates, we are committed to working with law enforcement.”
But the Raymond case still hangs in the balance, nearly four years after his arrest. Even after Raymond pleaded guilty late last year, prosecutors have dithered over the exact nature of his work and have refused to release a full list of countries where he assaulted women.
They nonetheless offered a wild account of Raymond’s conduct, describing him as a “serial offender” whose attacks escalated over time and became “almost frenzied” during his last CIA posting in Mexico City, where he was discovered in 2020 after a naked woman screamed for help from his apartment balcony.
U.S. authorities searched Raymond’s electronic devices and began identifying the victims he had listed by name and physical characteristics, all of whom described experiencing some form of memory loss during their time with him.
One victim said Raymond seemed like a “complete gentleman” when they met in Mexico in 2020, remembering only that they kissed. Unbeknownst to the woman, after she lost consciousness, he took 35 close-up videos and photos of her breasts and genitals.
“Defendant’s manipulation often led the women to feel guilty about losing consciousness, to feel ashamed, and to apologize to defendant,” prosecutors wrote in a court filing. “He was more than willing to manipulate the women, often suggesting that they had too much to drink and that, despite their instincts to the contrary, nothing had happened.”
Raymond, a San Diego native and former White House intern, speaks fluent Spanish and Mandarin. He ultimately pleaded guilty to four of 25 federal charges, including sexual abuse, coercion and transportation of obscene material. As part of his sentence, the judge ordered him to pay $10,000 to each of his 28 victims.
Raymond’s lawyers had asked for leniency, saying his “quasi-military” work at the CIA in the years after 9/11 became a breeding ground for the emotional callousness and “objectification of other people” that enabled his years of predation on women.
“While he worked tirelessly in his government position, he ignored his own need for help and, over time, he began to isolate himself, detach himself from human feelings and become emotionally numb,” defense attorney Howard Katzoff wrote in a court filing.
“He was a valuable government employee, but it cost him dearly and sent him down a dark path.”
