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US embassy employee may have drugged and sexually assaulted at least 22 women, prosecutors say

Brian Jeffrey Raymond was arrested after authorities attended a woman in distress at his apartment

Louise Hall
Wednesday 28 October 2020 21:11 GMT
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An exterior view of the US Embassy in Mexico City
An exterior view of the US Embassy in Mexico City (Google)
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A longtime US embassy employee who allegedly drugged and assaulted a woman in Mexico City has been described in court documents as an "experienced sexual predator” with at least 22 victims over almost a decade.

Brian Jeffrey Raymond was arrested after authorities in Mexico City responded to reports of a naked woman in distress calling from the balcony of his US Embassy-leased apartment on 31 May, The Daily Beast first reported.

The woman said that she met Mr Raymond on Tinder and that she passed out while on a date with him after drinking a cup of wine that he had allegedly provided. A doctor's examination revealed that the woman had sustained multiple violent sexual injuries, documents said.

Mr Raymond, 44, who claimed the encounter was consensual, was detained by Mexican police. He has not been charged in connection with the incident.

Since then, authorities say they discovered 25 video fragments on his phone of naked, unconscious women and hundreds more photos on his iCloud account, according to documents.

The images, which span from 2011 to earlier this year, show at least 21 unconscious women and investigations into the original incident and 21 others are ongoing, NBC News reported.

“In several of the videos, a man's hand, appearing to be the defendant’s, can be seen opening the mouths of the women and inserting his fingers,” the documents read.

In other videos, the body of a naked male, who prosecutors allege to be Mr Raymond, can be seen at the edge of a frame and in some, the male is manipulating the women’s bodies or straddling them, documents say.

One woman reportedly told prosecutors that she had no idea she had been sexually assaulted until the agents showed her what they found on Mr Raymond’s devices.

According to court papers, the woman said she became “woozy" and felt her legs give out from under her after drinking a glass of wine filled by Mr Raymond, before blacking out and waking up the next morning.

According to prosecutors, there were searches on his laptop for, among other things, “passed out black girl,” “deep sleep,” “Ambien and alcohol and pass out."

Mr Raymond was arrested on 9 October and has been charged with one count of coercion and enticement in the case, the documents say.

Prior to his resignation, Mr Raymond was working in Mexico City out of the US embassy for a US government agency and worked in six different countries, the documents said.

Mr Raymond’s lawyers did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the broadcaster.

NBC News reported that in a 19 October order, Judge Linda Lopez called Mr Raymond a "danger to the community" and denied him bail. He is being held at a federal lockup in San Diego.

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