John Jefferson
Eduardo Valdivia (Montgomery County Department of Police).
A special agent for the FBI was arrested for sexually assaulting multiple women whom he lured to his tattoo shop for a supposed photo shoot.
Eduardo Valdivia, 40, was suspended by the FBI pending a police investigation into the charges. He was arrested in Gaithersburg, Maryland, on Monday and charged with two counts of second-degree rape, four counts of fourth-degree sexual offense, and four counts of second-degree assault, according to Montgomery County police.
They added that there may be additional victims.
In a statement released by the Montgomery County Department of Police, Valdivia is accused of rape by two women, both 21 years old, who allege that the agent and tattoo shop owner “lured [them] to the tattoo studio under the pretense of modeling opportunities with Exeter Models.” One of the women said that the person she had been communicating with on Instagram about the possible modeling job was named “Lalo Brown,” and both women thought they had been corresponding with another woman until they showed up to the DC Fine Line Tattoos shop.
Valdivia owns the shop and leases the space where the shop is housed, but he doesn’t have a valid license to run a tattoo shop connected to the shop’s address.
Assistant Chief of Police Nicholas Augustine held a press conference on Tuesday, during which he provided more details about the alleged sexual assaults by the two women who came forward. One of the women told police that was promised a free tattoo by Valdivia in exchange for having the work photographed as part of a modeling shoot that took place at a later date. She alleged that Valdivia assaulted her during the photo session.
“After this assault,” Augustine said, “the victim was coerced and threatened with legal action.”
The second victim’s story was similar.
The alleged victims were not aware of Valdivia’s status as an agent with the FBI, nor is it known if he was on duty at the time of the reported assaults.
Augustine confirmed that Valdivia’s apparent scheme involving the two identified victims dated back to February and that the investigation began in October when one woman came forward to report a sexual assault. He noted that Valdivia’s pattern of alleged attacks “could have started with other victims before that.”
“[W]e want the community to know that no matter if you sign a contract, that does not allow for you to be sexually assaulted,” Augustine said. “And we want the victims to come forward, whether they sign something that says ‘confidentiality’ or anything like that to come forward, tell us about it so we can help them and provide closure to them.”
Robert Bonsib, Valdivia’s defense attorney, maintained his client’s innocence in a statement to The Associated Press, saying that the women voluntarily came to the shop and that the visits were “consensual.”
Valdivia was previously arrested in 2020 for allegedly shooting a man on a Washington, D.C., subway train. He was acquitted of all charges.
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