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Ex-CIA agent drugged, raped dozens of women, feds say. Now FBI wants the public’s help
A “naked, hysterical woman screaming for help” on the balcony of an apartment in Mexico led investigators to nearly 500 photographs and videos of half-dressed, unconscious women belonging to a former CIA agent-turned foreign service officer, according to court documents.
Now federal agents are asking for the public’s help.
The FBI Washington Field Office and the U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service Office of Special Investigations issued a plea Monday for any information relating to 45-year-old Brian Jeffrey Raymond — a long-time CIA agent accused of drugging, sexually assaulting and photographing dozens of women he met on dating apps over the course of 14 years.
Raymond was arrested last year and pleaded guilty in July to several federal charges, including two counts of sexual abuse, court documents show. He’s scheduled to be sentenced Feb. 7.
In the interim, investigators are asking anyone who believes they may have been a victim or who otherwise has information about him to come forward.
Defense attorneys representing Raymond did not immediately respond to McClatchy News’ request for comment on Wednesday.
Hundreds of recordings show unconscious women
The case dates to May 31, 2020, when Raymond was arrested in Mexico, according to a criminal affidavit filed in support of the charges.Raymond was working for the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City at the time, the affidavit states. At 6:30 p.m., local law enforcement responded to reports that a woman without clothes was screaming for help from his balcony. Investigators said the woman was taken to an ambulance and received medical treatment for vaginal injuries, bruises on her arm, elbow and knee, and a cut in her cheek.
In an interview with investigators, the woman said she met Raymond on Tinder. According to her account, they went to a shopping area for a date in the afternoon before going back to his U.S. Embassy-leased apartment.
Shortly after eating some snacks and drinking a glass of wine, the woman told investigators she blacked out.
“She did not consent to having sex with Raymond and did not remember having sexual contact with him,” agents said in the affidavit. “She could not recall being on the balcony screaming for help.”
Raymond reportedly told law enforcement the sex was consensual, saying she “suddenly and inexplicably started screaming and ran out to the balcony.”
After Raymond’s arrest, the Diplomatic Security Service and FBI got warrants to search Raymond’s phones, laptops, tablets and memory cards. They also searched his apartment in Mexico City and his parent’s house in La Mesa, California, as well as his Tinder account, social media profiles and iCloud account.
The search of his devices produced multiple disturbing discoveries, starting with internet searches for “passed out black girl,” “passed out” and “ambien” at various points in 2010, 2011 and 2020, according to the affidavit.
Agents said they also found 478 pictures and videos of “unconscious women in various states of undress.”
Videos, pictures taken in several countries
Prosecutors said the alleged sexual abuse occurred from 2006 to May 2020, when Raymond was arrested in Mexico City. During that time, Raymond is accused of going on dates with women and recording them — often naked or partially naked — while they are unconscious. He was reportedly seen touching the women in many of the videos, which investigators said were recorded in “several different countries,” sometimes “at embassy-leased housing.”The list of locations where the videos and pictures were taken includes Mexico, California, Virginia, Washington, D.C. and four unnamed countries, identified in court documents only as “Country 3,” “Country 4,” “Country 5” and “Country 6.”
At least 24 different women were observed in the recordings — several of whom investigators interviewed, prosecutors said in documents accompanying Raymond’s plea agreement.
None of those women who spoke with law enforcement knew they had been recorded, court documents state, nor did any of them consent to sexual activity.
“All of the women interviewed described drinking alcohol supplied and/or prepared by Raymond and experiencing memory loss during their time with Raymond,” prosecutors said.
The government filed a criminal complaint against Raymond in October 2020. He was arrested in Southern California later that month, court documents show.
Raymond pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual abuse and one count of transporting obscene material in July.
“In the plea agreement, Raymond admitted to having sexual intercourse with two of the women depicted when both were unable to appraise the nature of the conduct,” the FBI said in Monday’s news release. “He also admitted that over the course of 14 years, he recorded and/or photographed unconscious and nude or partially nude women and touched their breasts, buttocks, and/or genitalia while they were incapable of consent.”
As part of the agreement, prosecutors proposed a guideline range of between 21 and 28 years in federal prison as punishment. Defense attorneys for Raymond proposed a sentence between 11 and 14 years.
Raymond also agreed to pay $10,000 in restitution to every victim identified in the recordings and will be required to register as a sex offender for life.
How to contact the FBI
The FBI said Raymond worked for the CIA for “many years” and met many of his victims in the U.S. and abroad on dating apps. He speaks Spanish and Mandarin Chinese and has lived in Washington, D.C. and San Diego.“Raymond traveled extensively for work and leisure, and lived in numerous countries, including Mexico and Peru,” the FBI said. “Raymond was living in Mexico City and working at the U.S. Embassy from August 2018 until May 2020.”
Anyone with information about Raymond or who believes they may have been a victim is asked to fill out a secure questionnaire at fbi.gov/BrianJeffreyRaymond.
They can also contact the FBI at ReportingBJR@fbi.gov or 1-800-CALL-FBI.
