Ex-CIA officer convicted of groping coworker in spy agency’s latest sexual misconduct case

A veteran CIA officer was found guilty Wednesday of assault and battery for reaching up a colleague’s skirt and forcibly kissing her during a drunken party at a CIA worksite — a case that happened just days after the spy agency promised to crack down on sexual misconduct in its ranks.

Donald J. Asquith said he would appeal the misdemeanor conviction following a brief judge trial in Loudoun County, entitling him under Virginia law to a jury trial on the same allegations. Asquith, who retired after last year’s attack, was sentenced to a day in jail, a 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 accounts of sexual assaults and unwanted touching within the agency. “She thought she had to stand up for younger women so that they didn’t have to go through something similar.”

The CIA said it “acted swiftly” within days of receiving a report of the assault to restrict Asquith’s contact with the victim. “CIA takes allegations of sexual assault and harassment extremely seriously,” the agency said in a statement.

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