Who is Brian Jeffrey Raymond? Ex-US diplomat pleads guilty to drugging and raping 23 women
A former US diplomat has pleaded guilty to raping and drugging 23 women over the course of several years, while he was working at the US Embassy in Mexico City.
Brian Jeffrey Raymond, 45, of La Mesa has pleaded guilty to sexually abusing, filming and photographing many unconscious women while he was working at the US embassy in Mexico between 2006 and May 2020. Many women have come forward and accused Raymond of drugging them and making explicit videos of them while they were unconscious. Many videos on Raymond's electronic devices reveal that he raped at least two women and fondled other victims. He will be sentenced at a later date by a federal judge in Washington DC and could face life in prison, a quarter of a million-dollar fine, and be ordered to pay restitution.
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Initially, Raymond was charged with a single count of coercion and enticement, but he now faces two additional counts of sexual abuse carried out within the “Special Maritime and Territorial Jurisdiction” of the US that is, his apartment in Mexico City, which has been leased by the US government since 2013 for use by diplomatic, consular, and military personnel.
Raymond was arrested on October 9, 2020, in La Mesa, California, where he had been staying with his parents after abruptly quitting his job. Court documents do not specify Raymond’s previous position at the Mexico City embassy, where he had been posted since 2018. Prosecutors have said that Raymond knows Spanish and Mandarin Chinese and had worked in at least six countries over more than two decades of federal service that Raymond’s defense team labels “exemplary”.
Federal prosecutors have described Raymond, as an “experienced sexual predator” whose alleged attacks stretch back to 2011. Initially, he was detained by Mexico City police who responded to reports of a “naked, hysterical woman desperately screaming for help” from the balcony of an apartment rented by the US Embassy in the well-heeled neighborhood of Polanco. After demanding diplomatic immunity, Raymond, who insisted the encounter had been consensual was released and returned to the United States the next day. Raymond, who met the majority of his alleged victims through online dating apps. Federal prosecutors allege that he has sexually assaulted at least 23 women in multiple countries over the past decade.
According to Raymonds's text conversations, he convinced a California woman identified in court records only as “Adult Victim 2” to visit him in Mexico after their first date in the US during which she suddenly blacked out. Raymond and the unnamed woman started communicating in 2017 and first got together in February 2018, in San Diego. She said that she blacked out at some point during the date, and couldn’t remember any details from much of the night. In September 2018, court records state that Raymond told the woman that he had moved to Mexico City, and asked her to visit. He also sent her pictures of himself and his new apartment, told her about the area and the restaurants nearby, and recommended that Halloween would be the best time to visit. Even though the woman was eventually not able to arrange a trip to Mexico City for Halloween, she went there in November 2018, to visit Raymond. The two dined together one night, and had lunch two days later, the woman told investigators. And while she said she remembered the lunch, she said she blacked out after the dinner and had slight memory of the evening she spent with Raymond.
FBI agents found 77 explicit images and videos on Raymond’s devices from both the get-togethers. In the pictures, the unnamed woman is nude and unconscious, according to the affidavit. A man’s hand, which investigators believe to be Raymond’s, can be seen drawing down the woman’s underwear, pulling up her bra, and opening her eyelids. The woman told the FBI that she “was unaware of the existence of any photographs and videos and did not consent to them being taken,” nor did she consent “to Raymond touching her body while she was unconscious,” the affidavit says. Other alleged victims have narrated a similar story when questioned about their lewd images on Raymond's device. “There are photographs and videos of three unconscious women in his bed, two in late-March 2020 and one on May 30, 2020, at the height of the Covid crisis,” stated the government’s detention memo. The FBI believes there are more victims to be found.
Officials are seeking any additional victims. If you believe you may have been victimized, or have information about Raymond or know someone who does, you are urged to fill out this secure online form, email ReportingBJR@fbi.gov or call 1-800-CALL-FBI.