Police say FBI agent sexually assaulted two women after promising free tattoos and modeling work

GAITHERSBURG, Md. — An FBI agent accused in Maryland of sexually assaulting two women contacted his alleged victims via social media with the promise of giving them free tattoos and modeling jobs, police said Tuesday as they encouraged other potential victims to come forward to report.

Neither woman knew that their alleged attacker… Eduardo Valdiviawas an FBI agent, Montgomery County Assistant Police Chief Nicholas Augustine said at a news conference.

Valdivia used aliases, including Lalo Brown, when he contacted the women through an Instagram account for a tattoo parlor in Gaithersburg, Maryland, police said.

Valdivia sexually assaulted the women – both in their 20s – during photo shoots at a tattoo studio and a hotel, police said.

Valdivia presented the female modeling contracts and threatened legal action if they did not return to model for him, Augustine said. Police detectives suspect Valdivia may have sexually assaulted other women under similar circumstances, the assistant chief said.

“I would like to thank the victims who came forward. They have now stopped this contact in our community and are courageous in coming forward to notify police of what was happening, which most likely prevented other people from becoming victims,” Augustine said.

Valdivia has been suspended by the FBI pending the conclusion of the police investigation. “The FBI takes allegations of criminal wrongdoing and misconduct very seriously,” an FBI spokesperson said in a statement Monday. “Because this is an ongoing investigation, the FBI cannot comment further.”

Valdivia, 40, of Gaithersburg, was before charged and acquitted in 2022 of attempted manslaughter and other charges stemming from an off-duty shooting aboard a moving subway train near Washington, D.C.

Online court records show Valdivia now faces misdemeanor and misdemeanor charges, including two counts of second-degree rape. The alleged facts date from May 2024 and September 2024.

Attorney Robert Bonsib, who represented Valdivia in the shooting case, confirmed that his client was arrested Monday on charges of sexual assault.

“We will not accept any accusation prima facie until all the evidence is in,” Bonsib said Monday.

The police started an investigation in October. The women were initially reluctant to come forward because they felt “held back” by the language in the contracts they signed to pursue modeling, Augustine said.

“We don’t know how long the business has been open, but he’s been doing tattoos since at least February,” Augustine said.

Valdivia was taken into custody after his first court appearance Monday, Bonsib said. A bond hearing was scheduled for Tuesday afternoon.

Bonsib has said Valdivia joined the FBI in 2011 and was promoted to supervisory special agent at FBI headquarters in 2019.

On December 15, 2020, a confrontation between Valdivia and an unarmed passenger quickly escalated from a testy altercation to a shooting on a train approaching the Medical Center station in Bethesda, Maryland.

Valdivia shot and wounded the man from a distance of about 2 to 3 feet (0.6 to 0.9 meters) after repeatedly ordering the man to back up, prosecutor Robert Hill said in court. The wounded man had part or all of his spleen, colon and pancreas removed during surgery after the shooting, Hill said.

Bonsib has said Valdivia acted in self-defense when the man approached him in the back of a train car.

“The law does not require you to wait until you are beaten before taking action. “If this had resulted in a fight and a struggle for Officer Valdivia’s gun, God only knows what could have happened,” Bonsib said after Valdivia was charged.