An FBI agent who was acquitted of attempted murder in the shooting death of a man on a train nearly four years ago was arrested Monday in Maryland on suspicion of sexually assaulting two women, according to police and court records. Ta.
Eduardo Valdivia has been suspended by the FBI pending the conclusion of a police investigation in Montgomery County, Maryland, a spokesperson for the agency announced.
“The FBI takes allegations of criminal violations or misconduct very seriously,” an FBI spokesperson said in a statement. “As this is an ongoing investigation, the FBI cannot comment further.”
Valdivia was previously charged with attempted second-degree murder and other charges stemming from an off-duty shooting on a subway train near Washington, D.C., and was acquitted in 2022.
Valdivia is currently charged with felonies and misdemeanors, including two counts of second-degree rape, according to online court records.
The dates of the crimes were May 2024 and September 2024.
Robert Bonsib, the defense attorney who represented Valdivia in the shooting, confirmed Monday that his client was arrested on sexual assault charges.
“We will not accept prima facie any allegations until we have all the evidence,” Bonsib said.
A Montgomery County Police Department spokeswoman would not comment on the connection to the shooting, but identified Valdivia as the FBI agent who was arrested.
Police detectives believe there may be more victims and are planning a news conference Tuesday “to encourage victims to come forward,” the department said in a statement. Police did not immediately release any other information about the charges.
Valdivia, 40, of Gaithersburg, Maryland, was ordered held in custody after an initial court appearance Monday, Bonsib said. Bonsib said Valdivia will be back in court Tuesday for a bail hearing before a judge.
Bonsib said Valdivia joined the FBI in 2011 and was promoted to supervisory special agent at FBI headquarters in 2019.
The lawyer said Valdivia had been working as an FBI agent since his acquittal.
On December 15, 2020, a confrontation between Valdivia and an unarmed passenger quickly escalated from a heated exchange of words to gunfire on the train as it approached the Medical Center Station in Bethesda, Maryland.
County Attorney Robert Hill said in court that Valdivia repeatedly told the man to back up and then shot and wounded him from about 2 to 3 feet (0.6 to 0.9 meters) away. said.
Hill said the injured man had part or all of his spleen, colon and pancreas removed in surgery after the shooting.
Bonsib claimed that Valdivia acted in self-defense when a man approached him in the back of the vehicle.
“The law does not require you to wait to be hit before taking action. If this had led to a hand-to-hand fight and a struggle for Agent Valdivia's gun, I wonder what would have happened. God only knows,” Bonsib said after the Valdivia indictment.
