A former CIA trainee officer was acquitted by a Virginia jury on Wednesday of charges that he assaulted a female colleague in a stairwell, charges that have sparked a wave of sexual misconduct complaints and reforms at the agency of espionage.

Prosecutors said Ashkan Bayatpour came up behind a fellow intern in the stairwell at CIA headquarters in Langley, Va., in 2022, wrapped a scarf around her neck and tried to kiss her while making threatening remarks.

Bayatpour appealed last summer after being convicted by a judge of the same felony assault and battery charge. Under Virginia law, the Alabama native and former Marine intelligence officer was entitled to a full jury trial in Fairfax County. The panel deliberated for several hours on Wednesday before its verdict.

“I am grateful that a jury of my peers believed me and found me not guilty,” said Bayatpour, 40, who resigned from the CIA after his earlier conviction in the case. “Being wrongly accused for the past two years has been a nightmare. My family and I have been robbed of so much peace, joy, privacy and security, and now I’m focused on putting my life back together after this ordeal.”

Bayatpour admitted in the earlier bench trial that he wrapped the scarf around the woman’s neck, 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 to land.”

The woman’s decision to take the case outside the spy agency has encouraged 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 say is a campaign to keep her . they should not speak.

A AP investigation found that their allegations, some dating back years, ranged from lewd remarks about sexual fantasies to allegations that a veteran CIA officer at a office party he reached up a colleague’s skirt and forcibly kissed her in front of his stunned colleagues.

The Chamber’s Intelligence Committee, in a bipartisan report this year, he blamed the CIA for botching its response to such allegations of sexual misconduct. The report, based on interviews with 26 whistleblowers and numerous briefings with CIA officials, found that the agency’s investigation of sexual assault or harassment was ineffective and victims were discouraged from filing 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 issues of sexual assault and harassment extremely seriously and remain committed to providing a safe workplace for our officers,” the CIA said in a statement.

Bayatpour’s accuser, Rachel Cuda, was FIRED after she filed 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 outcome of the trial and questioned the defendant’s tactics to clear his name, which he said included trying to embarrass the plaintiff with inaccurate, prejudicial allegations and irrelevant.

“This effort to smear your 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, unless the alleged victims publicly identify themselves or agree to have their names published, as Cuda did in this case.

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Goodman reported from Miami, Mustian from New Orleans. Contact AP’s global investigative team at [email protected].

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