Another Former Embassy Employee Prosecuted; Limits of the Polygraph Exposed Yet Again

A former U.S. Embassy employee from Mexico City has been charged with a string of sexual predator offenses, as detailed in today's NYT story. The circumstances are highly reminiscent of a similar case from 2010, including the fact that both employees had been polygraphed multiple times without the exams detecting any criminal behavior. 

From the NYT story:

In a petition arguing that Mr. Raymond should not be held in custody, Mr. Kirby said that Mr. Raymond had taken more than 10 polygraph tests and had passed every one of them, including a recent one, which addressed the allegations against him.

So, what's the problem with the polygraph? It's almost like it doesn't work, or something. 

The polygraph was the invention of one William Marston, psychologist, lawyer, and cartoonist, who created both the polygraph and Wonder Woman - with her Golden Lasso of Truth - out of a stew of bondage fetishism, woman's suffrage, birth control, moral panic, feminism, and polyamory. 

It's a story far too strange for fiction. Please read The Secret History of Wonder Woman by the fine historian Jill Lapore, which also has a movie version. You can thank me later. 

Does Wonder Woman's Golden Lasso of Truth really work? Let us say that it works as well as the polygraph.

---------------------------------

P.S. I'd forgotten just how good The Secret History of Wonder Woman really is, but this blurb sums it up nicely:

“Even non-comix nerds (or those too young to remember Lynda Carter) will marvel at Jill Lepore’s deep dive into the real-world origins of the Amazonian superhero with the golden lasso. The fact that a polyamory enthusiast created her partly as a tribute to the reproductive-rights pioneer Margaret Sanger is, somehow, only the fourth or fifth most interesting thing in Ms. Woman’s bizarre background.” — New York Magazine

  

Gons Nachman, Inmate Number 72616-083

Gons Nachman on Copacabana Beach in happier times








Gons Nachman packed a lot of experiences into his 42 years of life. He was raised in Costa Rica, emigrated to the U.S. at age 17, went to college and law school, became an activist for the rights of nudists, worked in Miami for the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service and in the Congo and Brazil as a Foreign Service Officer, got charged with and plead guilt to possession of (self-produced) pornography, and is now serving a 20-year sentence in a Federal prison.

It's been a long road with many a twist and turn, but fate has finally deposited Gons here, in the Federal Correctional Institution at Petersburg, Virginia.

FYI, you can keep track of Gons' whereabouts for the next decade or two by going to the Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator page.

I confess that I find Gons fascinating, in a criminological sort of way. I've met a few sociopaths just like him - some of them also went to prison - and they were all intelligent and charming. I'm sure I would like Gons if I met him. Most people seem to.

You can find some background on Gons and the predatory behavior that landed him in prison here, and here. If you scroll through the comments on those posts you'll find one from a Brazilian visa applicant that he hit on, and a few from others who knew him.

Nachman: "I've had this self-centered streak"

The Associated Press story, as carried in the Washington Post this afternoon, has part of the sentencing statement by U.S. District Judge Gerald Bruce Lee, and a bit of pleading by Gons Nachman (read it here).

The key quotes are:

Gons G. Nachman, 42, had sought leniency, claiming among other things that cultural differences in those countries made sex with teenage girls more acceptable. But U.S. District Judge Gerald Bruce Lee took the unusual step of imposing consecutive 10-year terms for the two counts on which Nachman was convicted.

"I reject out of hand completely the idea that I should take into account cultural differences," Lee said. He said even if such differences exist, Nachman was answerable to U.S. standards and U.S. law while working as a diplomat on embassy grounds.

His defense lawyers argued that Nachman documented all aspects of his life, and that the sex tapes should be viewed from that perspective. "This gentleman is not a predatory, manipulative, child sex abuser," said defense attorney Lorilee Gates.

A second defense attorney, John Tran, said cultural norms in Brazil and Congo should be taken into account. He noted embassy officials were indifferent when Nachman brought a 17-year-old girl to the embassy as his date. "As repugnant as it may be to us, in some parts of the world no one turns an eye when someone is walking around with someone who looks like his daughter as a date," Tran said.

His attorneys had suggested the six months he has already spent in prison would be sufficient.

[TSB Note: Personally, I'd be willing to reduce Nachman's sentence by a few years if only we could give his lawyers some prison time.]

In court, Nachman apologized to his victims and the U.S. Foreign Service. "I've had this self-centered streak that has caused me to be where I am," he said.

We should not overlook that fact that it wasn't Gons's self-centered streak that put him where he used to be: in positions of trust from which he could easily prey on the vulnerable. Two separate agencies of the U.S. government, the Immigration and Naturalization Service [now the United States Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services] and the State Department, commissioned him as an Asylum Officer and a Vice Consul, respectively. One can only hope that the appropriate U.S. government officials will re-visit our background investigation and security clearance procedures with the Nachman case in mind, and in that way some good might come of this sad episode.

Going, Going, Gons?

I'm on pins and needles today as I watch the press releases from the office of the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, waiting to learn whether Gons Nachman has finally been sentenced.

The prosecution has asked for a sentence of 20 years, but according to Federal guidelines he should receive 9 to 11. He deserves to receive the full 20 years just for having the gall to present that 'when-in-Rome' argument for sentencing mitigation.

----- Update -----

The judge gave Gons the full 20 years imprisonment, plus 10 years of supervision after his release.

----- 2nd Update ------

Three comments were received (here) after the sentencing:

August 22, 2008 10:57 AM
Anonymous said...
It's ridiculous to imprison this Man as other Men have had a lot of Sex with these same 14 year olds

---

August 22, 2008 12:31 PM
Anonymous said...
Ex-US diplomat gets 20 years for child porn

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — An ex-U.S. diplomat who admitted having sex with teenage girls and taping the encounters while stationed in Brazil and the Congo has been sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Gons Nachman had sought leniency, claiming cultural differences in those countries made sex with teenage girls more acceptable.

But a judge gave the 42-year-old the maximum sentence and took the unusual step of ordering consecutive 10-year terms for the two counts on which he was convicted.

Nachman pleaded guilty earlier this year to possessing child pornography after admitting he videotaped his sexual encounters while working as a consular officer. The case also included allegations that he pressured Brazilian visa applicants for sex, though he was not charged with that.

----

August 22, 2008 12:31 PM
Anonymous said...
I was at the sentencing hearing this morning as I had a matter after it. This was the first I have heard of this case but it was compelling nonetheless and it is no surprise that it has been tracked fervently.

Basically, the Judge did not buy any of those arguments as when you boil it down, Mr. Nachman had sex with a 14 year old. End of story

Brazil to Gons Nachman: "There's Nothing Normal About It"

Here's an article from the Brazilian newspaper Correio Braziliense about the sentencing of Gons Nachman: former diplomat is sentenced. I've gotten a translation from Portuguese using Google language tools; it's a very poor translation, but you can get the gist.

The really interesting thing is that I found this article on the website of the Brazilian Foreign Ministry. I assume they posted it to make clear that, contrary to Nachman's when-in-Rome defense, Brazilians do not consider sex with under-age girls to be the least bit acceptable. In fact, Nachman would have been punished just as severely under Brazilian law as he is under U.S. law.

Here's the translation, in which I've put the key points in bold:

American Gons Nachman, accused of maintaining relations with minors in Brazil and Africa, says it is "normal" in Brazilian culture. It can take 11 years of imprisonment in the U.S.

The Editorial

In May 2006, the American Gons Gutierrez Nachman, 42 years, was of samba lessons in Washington, capital of the United States. Alegre, they smile for the camera of the newspaper-TV NBC while ensaiava steps. "I'll work in Brazil later this month. Always loved the Brazilian music and culture. I think this is a great way for me to adapt to the country, "said the recording. Two years later, the former diplomat is behind bars. In the United States, he was found guilty in April for the crime of child pornography and sex with girls between 14 and 17 years in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and in Brazil. Nachman argued that the suit was "normal" in the two countries.

"There's nothing normal about it," said the Mail Leila Paiva, coordinator of the Programme of coping of Sexual Violence in Children and Adolescents of the Special Secretariat for Human Rights. "There is this cultural difference alleged. It is a crime, and the law of Brazil that is very clear. "To defend itself, the American said at the trial that sex with minors is a cultural issue in the African country and Brazil.

Nachman sexual journey began in 2003 as a diplomat in the DRC. According to documents filed in court, he maintained sex with teenagers at home, paid with the money the U.S. government. It was found that, in Congo, a girl of 14 years and another of 17 came to live with it. In Brazil, he lived with one for 16 years. Nachman recorded all the adventures in a diary and sometimes filmava the girls. He came to launch the video on the Internet 2004 - sexual adventures in the Congo.

Child pornography delatou Nachman in the United States. But if he had continued in Brazil, would also be charged with corruption of minors and sexual exploitation by the Statute of the Child and Adolescent. "Even with the consent of the adolescent is a crime. If they pay a dinner in exchange for sex or had any relationship of market power with the smaller, is considered exploitation, "said Leila.

Rationale

When the investigations began, the diplomat was expelled from the U.S. consulate in Rio de Janeiro in November 2007. In a letter written in prison, where he is since February, he tried to explain: "In the Congo, women are growing fast, physically and emotionally because of the substantial responsibility that society has about them since childhood." Nachman also is accused of having two molester who went to the Brazilian consulate in Rio in search of a visa. He would have demanded sex in exchange for the "favour". They testified in the U.S. and Justice said they were persecuted in an "aggressive" the former diplomat.

The story of Nachman also drew attention in the U.S. for another reason. In the midst of the trial, in April, he asked the judge to carry out his marriage with the Brazilian Ana Carolina Pereira Porcher, 21 years. The judge denied the request, said it would be absurd to divert attention from a serious case to perform a marriage. The couple also tries to marry the Justice and is having an ongoing process. As established by the story, the Brazilian is a family of upper middle class, student of law and lives in the state of Maryland.

The judgement of Nachman to be announced on August 22. The judge asked yesterday a psychological evaluation of ex-diplomat. The mail came in contact with the defence lawyer, Stephen Stine, but received no response. The U.S. can take up to 11 years in prison.

Gons Nachman to the Judge: In My Mind, I'm Only a Little Bit Guilty

Damn! I was so looking forward to seeing Gons Nachman get sentenced tomorrow at the Federal Courthouse in Alexandria. But now he's gotten a last-minute postponement. According to today's AP story:

An ex-diplomat [Gons G. Nachman] convicted of having sex with teenage girls in the Congo and Brazil and taping the encounters is asking a judge for leniency, claiming that cultural differences in those countries make sex with girls more acceptable.

Gons is the former INS Asylum Officer and State Department Vice Consul whose legal troubles I've been following for months (see here, here, here, here, and finally, here).

The judge has agreed to postpone sentencing until August 22, so that a "noted forensic psychologist" can probe Nachman's psyche as part of a defense ploy to show that Nachman became so highly attuned to Congolese cultural norms while serving as a U.S. Embassy political officer in Kinshasa that he came to believe it was only slightly improper to have sex with 14 year-old girls. And, if you buy that premise, then he shouldn't be punished as harshly as if he'd had sex with 14 year-olds in more Puritanical countries. Seriously. That's his story, a cultural subjectivist interpretation of statutory rape laws: 'Your Honor, having adopted the values of my exotic surroundings, I did not regard those particular 14 year-old girls as deserving of the protection afforded them by U.S. law, and I ask that you respect my cultural beliefs.'

But Gons isn't betting everything on this novel legal theory. According to the AP story, he also wrote a jailhouse letter to the Director of the U.S. Foreign Service in an apparent attempt to lay the groundwork for an appeal of his conviction.

Another odd twist is Nachman's prominence in the nudist community: In the 1990s, when attending law school at the University of Pennsylvania, Nachman led several public demonstrations advocating nudity. Nachman now contends that he was targeted for investigation in part because of his well-known affinity for the nudist lifestyle.

In his letter to the Foreign Service director, Nachman says investigators knew of his interest in nudism and illegally searched his apartment with the notion of finding images that, taken out of context, could be used against him.

Nachman says in the letter that he disclosed his activism and lifestyle to the Foreign Service and had no problems receiving a security clearance. State Department spokeswoman Nicole Thompson declined to comment directly on whether an individual's advocacy for public nudity would be a factor in the State Department's hiring process.

Now I'll have to wait another five weeks for the next installment of the Gons Nachman saga.

Gons Nachman Has a Date with the Judge

Gons G. Nachman, Esq., will be sentenced on July 11, according to this U.S. Department of Justice press release.

The release had a bit of information I hadn't seen before, and which explains the basis for the charge that Nachman had misused his Diplomatic passport.

Nachman also pleaded guilty to misusing his U.S. diplomatic passport by using it for personal travel to Brazil in November 2007 after he had been removed from that country by the U.S. Ambassador

So, it looks like he was expelled from post shortly after being interviewed by DS agents in September, 2007, then returned a few weeks later, probably to pick up his girl-friend/fiancee with whom he then traveled to Costa Rica to finagle her a visa before returning to the U.S.

Nachman could be sent away to prison for about 10 years. Since friends of his evidently read this blog, I heartily recommend that one of them send him this handy 92-page guide to doing time in a Federal prison. Except that the U.S. Bureau of Prisons does not permit conjugal visits, he should find the experience tolerable. Unless he simply can't resist getting naked in inappropriate surroundings, he ought to earn some time off his sentence for good behavior and could be released just before his 50th birthday.

What Happens in the Congo, Stays in the Congo

Two new comments were sent today to this post about Gons Nachman. First, we get some new information:

Anonymous [#1] said...
I know from visa official contacts that Nachman got the "fiancee" a visa in San Jose in January by mis-representing himself as an FSO on leave between assignments (when he was already suspended and under investigation). If she really is his "fiancee" he should have applied for a K visa for fiances, and as a visa officer he knew that. He committed visa fraud at least 3 ways in helping her to get a visa -- and that's called alien smuggling. She should never have been granted a visa because she was applying outside her home country, but of course, she couldn't get one there because he'd already been caught.

And two hours later we hear from a defender of Nachman:

Anonymous [#2] said...
I know Mr Nachman for many years, I think he is one of the most decent human beings that I know. The alleged crimes did not happen in the USA, but in CONGO where the age of consent is 14. Mr. Nachman simply had consentual sex. in CONGO. And he documented the encounters in pictures and videos. As for his fiancé, she comes from a wealthy family and also she is a law student. The truth is that they traveled to Costa Rica to get engaged.


This story is just getting better and better. If the marriage plans progress - and I hope they will - I promise to open a gift registry at the prison commissary in the Federal Correctional Institution where Nachman will do his time.

Gons Nachman, Former U.S. Vice-Consul and Incurable Romantic, Pleads Guilty

Gons Nachman, the former Foreign Service Officer whose legal troubles I have been following (here, and here), pled guilty yesterday to charges that will probably put him in prison for nine to eleven years, under Federal sentencing guidelines.

Here's the Associated Press story, via WTOP News:

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) - A former U.S. diplomat pleaded guilty Thursday to possession of child pornography in a case that also included allegations that he pressured visa applicants in Brazil for sex.

The plea deal includes no admission, however, to allegations that Nachman pressured attractive Brazilian visa applicants for sex. In a court affidavit, a State Department investigator said she interviewed several visa applicants in Brazil who had sex with Nachman after being aggressively pursued by him. One of the women told agents that Nachman "took advantage" of her. The plea bargain prohibits the government from bringing more serious charges against Nachman, including production of child pornography, which carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years.

Up to that point in the proceedings, it was a normal day in court. But then Nachman's lawyer made a special request of the judge, WTOP reports.

Thursday's hearing ended on an unusual note. Nachman's attorney told the judge that Nachman was trying to marry his fiancee but was having difficulty doing so because the jail where is being held prohibits such ceremonies.

"Are you asking me to perform the wedding?" Judge Gerald Bruce Lee asked.

Gates said that would be wonderful, and the judge appeared to be considering the idea until prosecutor Ron Walutes pointed out that the fiancee is a 21-year-old Brazilian national - a profile not entirely dissimilar from some of Nachman's victims in the case.

Lee then said he thought the logistical difficulties of obtaining a marriage license while incarcerated made such a ceremony unlikely, though he did not rule out the possibility if Nachman's lawyer could figure out a way to make it work.

Now that I know Nachman has a Brazilian fiancee, a comment I received to an earlier post about this case is coming into focus. Someone pleading Nachman's case asked me:

How solid could be this case if the main “witness” was emotionally linked to Nachman? Don’t you think this could be some sort of revenge?

The fact that he was a member or founder of the "Naturist Student Society" is not even worth to be mentioned, how this could affect on his performance as a Foreign Officer?

As a comment, do you know how the prosecutors got the “evidence”? do they used a judge order to search his apartment or his computer? At least in my country, an order is needed to search a house or an office, and this kind of mistakes can be used even to get any “evidence” useless.

I replied:

Nachman is charged with producing and possessing child pornography, misuse of his diplomatic passport, and making false statements. The case against Nachman relies on physical evidence as well as witness testimony.

He possessed illegal things [child porn] and signed his name to untruthful statements on official documents.

Much of the evidence seems to have come from Nachman himself. According to news reports, Nachman kept diaries in which he recorded sexual encounters with girls as young as 14 [which is a serious crime here in Gringo-Land], and he made statements to investigators admitting to that and other criminal violations.

Nachman's defense lawyer hasn't alleged that any of the evidence against him was gathered improperly.

So, to answer your questions, I do not think that Nachman is the victim of a revengeful witness, not do I think the evidence against him will be thrown out.

p.s. - I don't think Nachman's college nudist activites effected his performance as an FSO. I think it was his predatory sexual behavior with children and visa applicants that effected his performance as an FSO.

If Nachman does manage to marry the lucky 21-year old, is there any chance whatsoever that she will not get a visa?

Additional Charges for Former FSO Gons G. Nachman

The Washington Times had a brief update today (here) about Gons G. Nachman, that Samba-dancing videographer who until last September served as Vice Consul at the U.S. embassy in Brazil. See this post for background.

"Prosecutors are planning to bring additional child-pornography charges against a U.S. diplomat charged with pressuring visa applicants for sex while stationed in Brazil ...... In court papers, prosecutor Ron Walutes said he expects a superseding indictment early this month that will add charges of producing child pornography — charges that carry a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years, unlike simple possession charges, which have a maximum of 10 years and no statutory minimum. Mr. Nachman has pleaded not guilty to the charges, and his defense attorney, public defender Geremy Kamens, has questioned aspects of the government's case."

Interesting that Nachman is using a public defender. Also, the Times had a tidbit that I hadn't seen before, and which explains why Nachman is being held in jail without bond pending his trial: Nachman is a dual-national with citizenship in both the U.S. and Costa Rica, making him a presumed flight risk.

Dual citizenship isn't a bar to being commissioned as a Foreign Service Officer?

FSO Charged in U.S. District Court

There's bad news about a visas-for-sex scandal involving a U.S. Foreign Service Officer in Brazil. A variety of charges were unsealed against one Gons G. Nachman at the U.S. District Court in Alexandria today, and he is being held pending a hearing on Tuesday.

A quick Goggle search indicates that Gons Gutierrez Nachman is a samba dancing enthusiast ("I'm going to work in Brazil in May ... And, I think it's a wonderful way to introduce myself to the country") who also dabbled in amateur photography while stationed in the Congo from 2003 to 2005, where he took pictures of "displaced people," "traditional and modern Congolese dancers," and "children." He is probably the same Gons Gutierrez Nachman who was active in the University of Pennsylvania Naturist Student Association during the 90s.

There are more internet hits on his name, but the subject is just too depressing to continue.

The linked news story says "Court records reflect that a defense lawyer has not yet been appointed," which sounds strange, given that Nachman was relieved of duty as far back as September. Surely he would have lawyered-up as soon as DS agents interviewed him? But Nachman evidently is, or was, a lawyer himself, since his name was included in a 2002 inactive membership roster of the Florida Bar Journal. Could he be foolish enough to represent himself?