Warning: This story contains descriptions of sexual assault.
A “naked, hysterical woman desperately screaming for help” from the balcony of an apartment leased by the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City has led to allegations that an embassy staffer is a serial molester who drugged and sexually assaulted at least 23 victims over the past decade.
Investigators uncovered sickening photos and footage of unconscious women in Brian Jeffrey Raymond’s bed. In some, a man holds open their eyelids, waves their limp arms and legs, or puts his fingers in their mouth to show they are unconscious, prosecutors said. Raymond can be seen nude and aroused in some of the images, they said.
Prosecutors allege that Raymond continued using dating apps to meet women—one of whom who says she has only hazy memories of having sex with him—even after he knew he was under investigation.
The 44-year-old was arrested Oct. 9 in La Mesa, California, where he had been staying with his parents after abruptly quitting his job. Ten days later, a federal judge deemed Raymond a flight risk as well as a danger to the community and ordered him detained pending trial.
Court documents do not specify Raymond’s position at the Mexico City embassy, where he had been posted since 2018, and there are few traces of him on the internet. Prosecutors note that he speaks both Spanish and Mandarin Chinese and worked in at least six different countries over more than two decades of federal service that Raymond’s defense lawyer described as “exemplary.” At least nine of the alleged attacks took place in Raymond’s official residence, according to authorities.
The Department of State declined to comment or provide further details, referring The Daily Beast to the Department of Justice which did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
At the moment, the 44-year-old globe-trotter is charged with with one count of coercion and enticement , but the feds are certain there are more victims out there, having unearthed “numerous” chats between the suspect and various women who appear to be apologizing for blacking out, asking Raymond if they had sex, or saying they had no memory of the previous evening. Prosecutors anticipate bringing additional charges, they said in a motion to deny Raymond bail.
Since 2011, Raymond has “exerted power and control over unconscious women,” says the motion. Yet, everyone who knew him seemed completely unaware of his behavior, which authorities describe as “evidence of his unique ability to portray a very different public face.”
The first domino for Raymond fell this past May, when Mexico City police responded to reports of the naked woman in distress on the balcony of Raymond’s apartment, according to the detention memo filed by prosecutors. She appeared to be extremely intoxicated, couldn’t walk on her own, and was taken by ambulance to the hospital, it says.
There, doctors found “injuries consistent with vaginal and anal penetration,” including lacerations to the woman’s rectum that were consistent with “the introduction of a hard object with blunt edges.” She also had bruises to her forearm, elbow, and knee, and a laceration on the inside of her cheek.
The woman had no recollection of any physical contact with Raymond, and couldn’t remember calling for help. She did, however, remember how she ended up in his apartment.
They met on Tinder, the woman explained, and had gotten together at an outdoor shopping center. Raymond brought a bottle of wine, which they drank out of coffee mugs, and eventually decided to continue their conversation at Raymond’s apartment. There, after some light snacks and another glass of wine, she suddenly blacked out.
Raymond, who claimed the encounter was consensual, was detained by Mexican police. He returned to the U.S. the next day, presumably avoiding local charges due to diplomatic immunity. After quarantining for two weeks in Northern Virginia, Raymond agreed to be interviewed by federal investigators and again insisted the sex in Mexico City had been consensual.
The agents seized his personal and work phones and what they found landed him behind bars. A forensic search of Raymond’s phones, laptop, and iCloud account turned up hundreds of photos and videos of naked, unconscious women being abused in both Mexico City and the Washington, D.C., metro area. Some of the women were snoring audibly. The “vast majority” of the images, which dated back to 2011, were linked to Raymond by metadata as well as bedding and furniture seen in them that matched his own.
Raymond’s search history didn’t help his case. According to investigators, there were searches on his laptop for, among other things, “passed out black girl,” “deep sleep,” “Ambien and alcohol and pass out,” “dissolve,” and “passed out and carried.” The feds say they found evidence that Raymond tried to wipe his devices of incriminating evidence after he was called in for an interview, but they were still able to piece together many of his alleged crimes.
In one series of photos and videos found on Raymond’s personal phone, a man’s hand can be seen pulling down an unconscious woman’s bra to expose her breast. The man’s thumb is seen holding her eyelid open, and his hand can be seen pulling down her shorts. Large red marks appear on both of the woman’s knees.
The following morning, Raymond texted the woman, according to investigators.
“[H]opefully you aren’t too hung over today,” Raymond said.
“Hey!” she replied. “Yesterday was rough. I had a massive hangover... lol. I had fun too! We have to do it again.”
Completely in the dark about what had happened to her, the woman agreed to a second date with Raymond. The two went to Dumbarton Oaks Park in Georgetown, where they shared two “juice boxes” of the Korean spirit soju, then walked to a nearby wine bar for a couple of drinks. They then went back to the woman’s apartment, where she opened a bottle of red and poured them both a glass.
After showing Raymond around, the two walked out onto the balcony, leaving the bottle of wine inside. When Raymond ducked inside to use the bathroom, he reemerged with the open bottle and refilled both of their glasses, prosecutors said. A few sips later, according to court papers, the woman became woozy and felt her legs give out from under her. She remembered that on her knees she told Raymond that she didn’t feel well and needed to lie down.
The next thing the woman recalled was waking up in her bed, fully clothed, with Raymond next to her. It was the first time in her life she ever blacked out from drinking, the woman told investigators. The woman said she told Raymond he was welcome to stay on the couch if he was too drunk to drive home, but Raymond put on his shoes and left. She was still having trouble standing up, but noticed that Raymond didn’t seem intoxicated at all.
Prosecutors said she had no idea she had been sexually assaulted until the agents showed her what they found on Raymond’s devices.
Even though Raymond knew he was now the focus of a criminal investigation, he didn’t delete his dating apps, according to prosecutors. At the beginning of October, just days before he was arrested, Raymond spent the night with a woman he met on Hinge. In an interview with law enforcement, she said she “believes she had sex with [Raymond] at least three times, but she only has small fragments of memory of the encounters.”
Raymond’s lawyer, John David Kirby, petitioned for his release pending trial, arguing that Raymond has a heart condition which makes him especially susceptible to COVID-19.
Raymond also has deep ties to the San Diego area, insisted Kirby, explaining that Raymond grew up there, has lifelong friends there, and that his parents and only sibling live there.
“Mrs. Raymond is a cancer patient who has spent the past several years fighting breast, throat, mouth and other forms of cancer,” said the filing. “She has suffered through ongoing treatment and reconstructive surgery. Her prognosis is not good. Mr. Raymond has assisting (sic) his father in caring for his mother.”
Kirby, who noted in the filing that Raymond has taken and passed more than 10 polygraph exams over the course of his government career, asked for house arrest and GPS monitoring.
In response, prosecutors pointed out that Raymond’s behavior in recent months “suggests no such concern for contracting COVID.”
“There are photographs and videos of three unconscious women in his bed, two in late-March 2020 and one on May 30, 2020, at the height of the COVID crisis,” says the government’s detention memo.
“From July until the date of his arrest, the defendant was active on at least three dating applications on which he proposed in-person meetings to numerous women, and he had sexual intercourse with at least one of them in her home. Additionally, the defendant has visited his indoor gym on a regular basis while living with his parents. Using his recent conduct as a guide, the defendant has not exhibited any behaviors to indicate a present fear of, or concern about, contracting COVID. And, if his past behavior is any indicator, the defendant may be more at-risk outside of prison than he is inside it.”
Prosecutors also demolished Raymond’s claims about family ties and caring for his ailing mom.
After Raymond was arrested, federal agents interviewed his parents. They said they were surprised when their son showed up at their house in mid-June, because he was so rarely in touch—the couple recalled an entire year during which Raymond only called them once. Raymond’s parents had no inkling of any heart issue, according to the agents, and didn’t even know that Raymond had been married and divorced.
Since Raymond moved back in, he has mostly stayed in his room, his parents explained. When he emerges, they said he is usually on his phone or laptop and largely ignores those around him. Raymond’s sister often stops by with her kids, but the government’s motion says Raymond “show[s] no interest in his nieces and nephews.” Agents also found “no indications” that Raymond is helping to care for his mother at all, supporting their contention with an example from Raymond’s past.
“Notably, several years ago, the defendant took several months of leave without pay, purportedly to care for his ailing mother,” according to the filing. “In reality, he visited approximately 15 different countries on leisure travel during that time.”
U.S. Magistrate Judge Linda Lopez denied Raymond bail, handing the “experienced sexual predator” over to the U.S. Marshals Service. He is now being held at a federal lockup in San Diego. Raymond’s parents and Kirby did not respond to requests for comment.
Raymond is due back in court Oct. 27.
