CIA failed to properly deal with sexual assault claims among its own employees with ‘little to no accountability or punishment’, House intelligence committee report finds

The CIA has failed to properly deal with allegations of sexual assault among its own personnel, according to a House Intelligence Committee report.

The final report, obtained by Politicsrevealed that there was ‘little to no accountability or punishment for confirmed perpetrators’, and that there was ‘confusion and disarray’ in the reporting process.

The report also found that victims lacked anonymity and were deterred from reporting sexual violence, and that the CIA took an “inconsistent approach or lack of timely coordination with law enforcement.”

The investigation, which began in January 2023 after a female CIA employee alleged she was assaulted and sexually assaulted by a fellow officer, saw investigators sift through 4,000 pages of documents and interview 26 whistleblowers within the agency.

In addition, two oversight hearings took place. The committee wrote in the summary of the report: “Over the course of the investigation, the committee found that the CIA failed to handle allegations of sexual assault and harassment within its personnel in the professional and uniform manner that such sensitive allegations warrant.”

William J Burns (pictured) is the director of the Central Intelligence Agency

The final report, obtained by Politico, found that there was ‘little to no accountability or punishment for confirmed perpetrators’

The report comes after a female whistleblower who was sexually assaulted in a stairwell at CIA headquarters Langley was fired from the agency, which disputed her account as “factually incorrect.”

This is despite the fact that the perpetrator, 39-year-old Ashkan Bayatpour, was convicted in August 2023 of attacking the CIA officer-in-training in July 2022 by chasing her with a scarf in the remote area and forcibly killing her trying to kiss him while he was allowed to stay at the agency for several months after his conviction.

She alleged in a federal civil rights lawsuit filed against the agency that it retaliated against her for reporting the attack by giving her more stringent performance ratings and “smearing” her by improperly releasing her personal information.

The 36-year-old did not survive the agency’s clandestine officer training program known as “the farm” and, unlike many of her classmates, was not hired for another job.

The woman’s attorney, Kevin Carroll, told the AP that the CIA has now “unlawfully ended the career of a young woman just because she had the moral courage, in the absence of her managers, to stand up and to witness her assault.”

“The festering problem of sexual violence in the workplace,” says Carroll, “is now damaging the retention of young women who are no longer willing to put up with it.”

In her testimony before a Virginia jury last summer, the woman recounted the moment Bayatpour allegedly tightened the scarf around her neck and tried to kiss her against her will.

“He made a face like he really wanted to hurt me,” she testified. ‘That face is what stays with me to this day. That’s the hardest part.’

The report comes after a female whistleblower who was sexually assaulted in a stairwell at CIA headquarters Langley (pictured) was fired from the agency

Bayatpour’s conviction sparked a wave of sexual assault allegations, with at least 20 women coming forward to the agency to complain of sexual assault, unwanted touching and coercion.

Bayatpour acknowledged wrapping the scarf around the woman in the stairwell but insisted his actions were intended as a joke during a 40-minute walk together. The incident, his lawyer said, was “a joke that didn’t land the way it was intended.”

Bayatpour, a 39-year-old Alabama native and former Navy intelligence officer, remained with the CIA for several months after being convicted in August of assault and battery, sentenced to six months’ probation and ordered to surrender all firearms in to deliver.

Bayatpour’s conviction sparked a wave of sexual assault allegations, with at least 20 women coming forward to complain of sexual assault, unwanted touching and coercion.

One even claimed that a senior manager came to a subordinate’s home and demanded sex while brandishing a gun.

The women claim they are fighting a campaign launched by the spy agency to silence them – warning it would destroy their careers and endanger national security.

MailOnline has contacted the CIA for comment.