[imagesource:fbi]

In a shocking revelation, a seasoned CIA officer has been sentenced to 30 years in federal prison for drugging, photographing, and sexually assaulting more than two dozen women across the globe.

During a poignant hearing, victims shared their harrowing experiences, describing how they were deceived by a man who seemed kind, educated, and part of an agency meant to “protect the world from evil”.

The case of Brian Jeffrey Raymond, the man at the centre of the most egregious misconduct cases in the CIA’s history, lays bare the profound betrayal of trust, the dark side of power, and the evils that ‘good’ men are capable of.

Chronicled in his own library of more than 500 images was him in some cases straddling and groping his nude, unconscious victims, per AP News.

Prosecutors revealed that the 48-year-old’s assaults stretch back to 2006, tracing a disturbing pattern throughout his career in Mexico, Peru, and beyond. Luring women he met on Tinder and other dating apps to his government-leased apartment, he would serve wine and snacks before drugging them. Once they were unconscious, he spent hours manipulating their vulnerable bodies, photographing and assaulting them in a chilling display of power. In some instances, he even opened their eyelids and forced his fingers into their mouths, highlighting the depth of his depravity.

“It’s safe to say he’s a sexual predator,” U.S. Senior Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly said in imposing the full sentence prosecutors had requested. “You are going to have a period of time to think about this.”

One by one, about a dozen of Raymond’s victims who were identified only by numbers in court recounted how the longtime spy upended their lives. Some said they only learned what happened after the FBI showed them the photos of being assaulted while unconscious.

“My body looks like a corpse on his bed,” one victim said of the photos. “Now I have these nightmares of seeing myself dead.”

One described suffering a nervous breakdown, while another spoke of a recurring trance that caused her to run red lights while driving. Many told how their confidence and trust in others had been shattered forever.

“I hope he is haunted by the consequences of his actions for the rest of his life,” said one of the women, who like others stared Raymond down as they walked away from the podium.

Reading from a statement, Raymond told the judge that he has spent countless hours contemplating 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. That’s not who I am and yet it’s who I became.”

Raymond’s sentencing comes amidst the French trial of the century, involving Gisèle Pelicot whose husband drugged and raped her repeatedly over the course of their marriage. Now she is challenging outdated and dangerous myths about what constitutes rape, including lifting the tight lid on how rampant drug-induced assault is.

Raymond’s case is also amid a reckoning on sexual misconduct at the CIA. The Associated Press reported last week that another veteran CIA officer faces state charges in Virginia for allegedly reaching up a co-worker’s skirt and forcibly kissing her during a drunken party in the office.

[source:apnews]