Former CIA official pleads guilty to sex, arms charges

A former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) official in Algeria pleaded guilty on Monday to charges of abusive sexual contact and unlawful use of cocaine while possessing a firearm, prosecutors said.

Andrew Warren, 42, made the plea before US District Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle in Washington.

Mr Warren confessed that on February 17, 2008, he committed abusive sexual contact while on US embassy property in Algiers, "by engaging in sexual contact with a female victim after he rendered her unconscious," an official statement said.

Additionally, Warren admitted that on April 26, 2010, he unlawfully used cocaine while possessing a Glock Model 19, 9 millimetre semi-automatic pistol in Norfolk, Virginia.

Mr Warren faces a maximum of 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and a lifetime of supervised release.

In January 2009, ABC TV reported that the CIA station chief, described as a convert to Islam who was in his post since September 2007, was ordered home the preceding October after two women came forward with separate allegations they were raped in the official's residence in Algiers.

According to an affidavit filed in federal court by the State Department's Diplomatic Security Service, the first alleged victim said she was raped by the officer in September 2007 after being invited to a party with US embassy employees at his residence. She said that while there, she was served mixed drinks of cola and whiskey that were prepared out of her sight.

Later in the evening, after the final drink served by the officer, she suddenly felt ill and vomited, and woke up in the officer's house the next morning nude after being apparently raped, according to the affidavit. She said she had no recollection of having sexual intercourse.

The second alleged victim described a similar incident that occurred in February 2008, according to the affidavit.