A La Mesa resident and former CIA officer who pleaded guilty to drugging and sexually abusing multiple women, as well as recording and photographing unconscious victims, was sentenced Wednesday in federal court to 30 years in prison.
Prosecutors say that over the course of 14 years, Brian Jeffrey Raymond, 48, sexually assaulted victims in multiple countries during various overseas postings. He also recorded and photographed the nude or partially nude victims when they were unconscious or otherwise "incapable of consent," and could be seen in the recordings "touching and manipulating the victims' bodies," they said.
Brian Jeffrey Raymond kept nearly 500 videos, including many in which he can be seen opening the victims' eyelids, groping or straddling them, prosecutors say. The images date to 2006 and track much of Raymond’s career, with victims in Mexico, Peru and other countries.
Raymond formerly worked for the CIA and at the U.S. Embassy in Mexico. When he was arrested three years ago, during his last assignment when he was stationed in Mexico City, he would meet women on dating apps and invite them back to his embassy-leased apartment for drinks. During that posting, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office, a nude woman was spotted on the balcony of his apartment on May 31, 2020, "screaming for help." She told investigators she met Raymond over a dating app, but blacked out after having food and drinks that he provided, according to court documents.
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The investigation revealed photos and video on Raymond's cell phones and other electronic devices, according to the Department of Justice. A search of his internet history found an incriminating online search history for phrases such as “Ambien and alcohol and pass out” and “vodka & valium." In one email to an online pharmacy, Raymond wrote, “Hello, do you have chloral hydrate for insomnia?,” according to the DOJ.
Prosecutors described the 47-year-old Raymond as an experienced sexual predator who kept a detailed accounting of potential victims organized by name, ethnicity and notes on their physical characteristics.
Prosecutors say Raymond tried to delete the photographs and videos he took of the women after learning he was under investigation.
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He was arrested in La Mesa in fall 2020 and pleaded guilty to four federal counts last year, including abusive sexual contact and transportation of obscene material.
His plea agreement includes admissions to drugging and "creating obscene material depicting 28 women without their knowledge or permission," nonconsensual sexual acts with four women, and nonconsensual sexual contact with six women, the DOJ said.
Along with prison, Raymond is required to register as a sex offender and must pay $260,000 in restitution to the victims.
"When this predator was a government employee, he lured unsuspecting women to his government-leased housing and drugged them," District of Columbia U.S. Attorney Matthew Graves said. "After drugging these women, he stripped, sexually abused, and photographed them. Today's sentence ensures that the defendant will be properly marked as a sex offender for life, and he will spend a substantial portion of the rest of his life behind bars."
