Ex-ICE officer's attorney says sex with women he supervised was unethical, not criminal

Federal Prosecutors say a former Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer who supervised people seeking asylum and other immigrants used his position to coerce sex from at least two women under his control.

In opening statements made in Andrew Golobic’s trial Wednesday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Ebunoluwa Taiwo said Golobic forced one woman, in 2018, to have sex with him, after convincing her to go to his home to pick up her passport. She needed it to open a bank account.

Taiwo said Golobic then began requesting suggestive photos from her and continued to invite her to his home.

Golobic later pursued a second woman, Taiwo said. After a few initial outings – a walk, a dinner at a Mexican restaurant – Golobic took her to his house. Taiwo said he sexually assaulted her in his bedroom, even as she told him to stop.

According to Taiwo, Golobic warned the woman that he knew where she lived and knew where she worked.

“She was terrified what could happen to her,” Taiwo told jurors.

Defense: Relationships were consensual

Golobic’s attorneys said the relationships were entirely consensual.

In opening statements, one of his attorneys, Angela Glaser, acknowledged that Golobic’s conduct was unethical. She said the agency was justified in firing him.

But was it criminal? Glaser asked. “Absolutely not.”

Golobic, a Navy veteran, worked in the ICE Blue Ash office. He helped start a program in 2013 that allows low-risk asylum seekers and other immigrants to remain in their communities while their cases are pending.

Around that same time, according to Glaser, Golobic and his wife divorced. He began to seek out women on social media and dating sites.

In court documents, Golobic’s attorneys say he had romantic relationships with at least a dozen women that were voluntary and consensual. Those women told the FBI that he never tried to affect their immigration cases, according to his attorneys.

Glaser said the first alleged victim was assigned to him after they were picked up for being undocumented in 2018. At that time, she already had lived in the U.S. for more than a decade.

After being assigned to Golobic, they exchanged phone numbers – which Glaser said was common – and began texting each other the same day.

No messages show he was abusing his power, Glaser said. Instead, messages were “conversations a single man has with women he is trying to sleep with,” she said.

Glaser said the second alleged victim was never afraid of him, and that she felt “flattered” when he asked her out on a first date.

After they had sex, Glaser said, Golobic and the woman exchanged “loving” text messages.

Deleted photos

Taiwo said Golobic tried to delete photos and apps from his phone before turning it over to investigators. Still, many images were recovered, she said, including video call images showing women's body parts as well as about 100 photos of various Hispanic and Asian women.

Many "appeared homemade" and some appeared to be "taken surreptitiously," Taiwo said.

Golobic faces charges including using force or coercion to cause a woman to engage in sex, interfering in the government’s investigation into him, tampering with witnesses, and depriving the two women of their bodily integrity by sexually assaulting them.

The trial, in federal court in Cincinnati before U.S. District Judge Michael Barrett, is expected to last about a week.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Trial begins for former Ohio ICE officer accused of sexual assault