Warning: This story contains descriptions of sexual assault.
A U.S. Embassy staffer accused of drugging and sexually assaulting at least 24 women over a 14-year period was in fact a longtime CIA employee, the FBI announced Monday, as the bureau urged any possible victims to come forward in the case.
Serial molester Brian Jeffrey Raymond, 45, was arrested Oct. 9, 2020, in La Mesa, California, where he had been staying with his parents after abruptly quitting his job at the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City. He pleaded guilty this past July to two counts of sexual abuse and one count of transporting obscene material, and will be required to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life upon his eventual release from prison.
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FBI spokeswoman Samantha Shero confirmed to The Daily Beast that Raymond was working for the CIA during his embassy posting in Mexico. She declined to provide further details about his exact position with the spy agency. A CIA spokesperson told The Daily Beast in an emailed statement, “CIA condemns in the strongest terms the crimes committed by former Agency officer Brian Jeffrey Raymond.” A source familiar with the case said the CIA took administrative action after Raymond’s arrest, and that he resigned from his position soon after.
As The Daily Beast previously reported, the investigation into the veteran CIA man began after a passerby spotted a “naked, hysterical woman desperately screaming for help” on the terrace of a Mexico City apartment leased by the U.S. Embassy. Investigators later uncovered nearly 500 photographs and video footage of numerous women passed out in Raymond’s bed. In some, a man can be seen holding open the victims’ eyelids, waving their limp arms and legs around, or putting his fingers in their mouths to demonstrate that they are unconscious, according to court filings.
A nude and obviously aroused Raymond, who passed more than 10 polygraph exams during his government career, is pictured in several of the images.
Raymond, who speaks Spanish and Mandarin Chinese and worked in at least six different countries over some 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 for a date, his victims reported “drinking alcohol supplied and/or prepared by Raymond and experiencing memory loss during their time with Raymond,” states Raymond’s plea agreement. At least nine of Raymond’s attacks occurred in his official government residence.
Raymond’s online footprint was nearly nonexistent, and his vague job description led to speculation that he was an undercover operative rather than a State Department worker.
He continued to carry out his repugnant rape spree even after he knew he was under investigation, then unsuccessfully tried to wipe the incriminating evidence from his phone, documents show. None of the women were capable of consent when they were assaulted, none consented to being recorded while in that state, and few had any memory of the events in question, according to authorities. Investigators uncovered “numerous” chats between Raymond and the women he assaulted in which they apologize for blacking out, ask Raymond if they had sex, and appear to have no recollection of what happened the night before.
When investigators looked into Raymond’s online search history, they discovered he had looked for phrases including “passed out black girl,” “deep sleep,” “Ambien and alcohol and pass out,” “dissolve,” and “passed out and carried.” One set of photos depicted Raymond abusing an unconscious woman, exposing her breast and pulling down her shorts. The next morning, Raymond texted the woman, according to investigators.
“[H]opefully you aren’t too hung over today,” he said.
“Hey!” the woman replied, obviously unaware as to what had happened. “Yesterday was rough. 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 then headed back to her place, where she opened a bottle of red wine for them to share. At one point, she left the bottle unattended while the two stepped out onto the balcony. When Raymond went inside to use the bathroom, he came back out with the wine bottle and refilled both of their glasses. But the woman soon felt woozy and felt like she was going to faint. The last thing she remembered was telling Raymond that she needed to lie down. Later, the woman woke up with a fully clothed Raymond in bed beside her.
Although she was still having trouble standing, the woman—who had no idea she had been sexually assaulted until she was eventually interviewed by investigators—noticed that Raymond didn’t appear impaired at all.
Raymond was arrested last October outside a gym in California. Just days before he was caught, he spent the night with a woman he met online who told cops she “believes she had sex with [Raymond] at least three times, but she only has small fragments of memory of the encounters,” court filings stated.
Raymond is scheduled to be sentenced in Washington, D.C. federal court on Feb. 7. His attorneys did not respond to a request for comment.
