A Virginia jury acquits an ex-CIA recruit in an assault case that led to
sexual misconduct reforms
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[October 31, 2024]
By JOSHUA GOODMAN and JIM MUSTIAN
A former CIA officer-trainee was acquitted by a Virginia jury Wednesday
of charges that he attacked a female colleague in a stairwell,
accusations that spurred a flood of sexual misconduct complaints and
reforms at the spy agency.
Prosecutors said Ashkan Bayatpour came up behind a fellow trainee in the
stairwell at CIA’s Langley, Virginia, headquarters in 2022, wrapped a
scarf around her neck and tried to kiss her while making threatening
remarks.
Bayatpour appealed last summer after he was convicted by a judge of the
same misdemeanor assault and battery charge. Under Virginia law, the
Alabama native and former Navy intelligence officer was entitled to a
full jury trial in Fairfax County. The panel deliberated several hours
Wednesday before its verdict.
“I’m grateful that a jury of my peers believed me and found me not
guilty,” said the 40-year-old Bayatpour, who resigned from the CIA after
the earlier conviction in the case. “Being falsely accused for the last
two years has been a nightmare. My family and I have had so much of our
peace, joy, privacy and security stolen from us, and my focus now is
putting my life back together after this ordeal.”
Bayatpour acknowledged in the earlier bench trial that he wrapped the
scarf around the woman’s neck but insisted his actions were intended in
jest during a 40-minute walk together. The incident, his attorney said,
was “a joke that didn’t land the way it was intended to land.”
The woman’s decision to take the case outside the spy agency emboldened
at least two dozen female CIA employees to come forward to authorities
and Congress over the past two years with their own stories of sexual
assault, unwanted touching and what they contend is a campaign to keep
them from speaking out.
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An AP investigation found that their accusations, some of which go
back years, ranged from lewd remarks about sexual fantasies to
allegations that a veteran CIA officer at an office party reached up
a colleague’s skirt and forcibly kissed her in front of stunned
co-workers.
The House Intelligence Committee, in a bipartisan report this year,
faulted the CIA for botching its response to such sexual misconduct
allegations. The report, based on interviews with 26 whistleblowers
and numerous briefings with CIA officials, found the agency’s
investigation of sexual assault or harassment was ineffective and
victims were discouraged from making complaints.
The agency said it has since reformed its policies, including making
sure officers are aware they can report complaints to law
enforcement, and other steps to streamline internal investigations,
support victims and quickly discipline those responsible.
“We take the issues of sexual assault and sexual harassment
extremely seriously, and we remain committed to ensuring a safe
workplace for our officers,” the CIA said in a statement.
Bayatpour's accuser, Rachel Cuda, was fired after filing a federal
civil rights lawsuit alleging the CIA retaliated against her for
reporting the incident to local law enforcement and testifying about
it in a closed congressional hearing.
Her attorney, Kevin Carroll, said he was disappointed with the
trial’s outcome and questioned the defendant’s tactics to clear his
name, which he said included trying to shame the complainant with
inaccurate, prejudicial and irrelevant allegations.
“This effort to tarnish her reputation is reprehensible, and it is
surprising that it was allowed in 2024,” he said.
The AP generally does not identify those who say they have been
sexually abused except when the alleged victims publicly identify
themselves or consent to their name being published, as Cuda has in
this case.
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