Ex-CIA officer convicted of groping coworker in spy agency’s latest sexual misconduct case
A veteran CIA agent was found guilty Wednesday of assault for grabbing a colleague’s skirt and forcibly kissing her during a drunken party at a CIA worksite. case that happened just days after the spy agency promised to take a tougher stance on sexual misconduct in its ranks.
Donald J. Asquith said he would appeal the misdemeanor conviction after a summary trial in Loudoun County, which under Virginia law allows him a jury trial on the same charges. Asquith, who retired last year after the attack, was sentenced to one day in jail, one year of probation and a $2,500 fine.
“It’s a vindication,” said Kevin Carroll, an attorney for the victim and several other women who have come forward to Congress and authorities with their own stories of sexual assault and unwanted touching inside the agency. “She thought she had to stand up for younger women so they wouldn’t have to go through something like this.”
The CIA said it acted “swiftly” to limit Asquith’s contact with the victim within days of receiving a report of the assault. “CIA takes allegations of sexual abuse and harassment extremely seriously,” the agency said in a statement.
Asquith’s attorney, Jon Katz, did not respond to requests for comment. He told the court that Asquith was too drunk to remember what happened at the party.
Asquith’s case is at least the third in recent years in which a CIA agent has been tried for sexual misconduct. Last week, Brian Jeffrey Raymond was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison for drugging, photographing and sexually abusing more than two dozen women while he was a CIA officer in various foreign postings. And next month, a now-former CIA officer-in-training faces a second trial on state charges for allegedly attack a woman wearing a scarf in a stairwell at the agency’s headquarters in Langley, Virginia.
Asquith was charged in April after a months of investigation by the sheriff to the alcoholic party at an off-site CIA office, where at least a dozen people attended to celebrate Asquith’s 50th birthday.
The victim, a CIA employee, told authorities that she repeatedly rejected Asquith’s advances, but that he moved closer, rubbed her leg without her consent and made a series of inappropriate sexual comments, as well as “moaning sounds and thrusting motions.” Asquith “then placed his hand up her skirt multiple times, up to her thigh, causing her skirt to lift up, possibly exposing her underwear,” according to court documents.
The woman told investigators she slapped Asquith’s hand away and got up to leave, but that he intervened as she approached the door and asked for a “booby hug” before grabbing her back with both hands and rubbing his groin and chest against her. She said Asquith then “forcibly hugged her and kissed her all over her face and mouth without her consent.”
The woman, who spoke to congressional staff about the attack last week, told the judge on Wednesday about the fear and sleepless nights she has experienced since coming forward.
“In just 45 minutes, Mr Asquith completely destroyed 30 years of meticulous professionalism, dedication and even a reputation,” she told the court.
“No one or any institution has been prepared to hold Mr Asquith to account for his serious decisions and actions,” she added. “If we continue to treat these cases as if they were parking violations, we all lose.”
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Mustian reported from New York. Contact AP’s global investigative team at Investigative@ap.org.
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In a story published on September 25, 2024, about sexual misconduct at the CIA, The Associated Press incorrectly reported the first name of Donald J. Asquith’s attorney. He is Jon Katz, not John.