Thief Gets 3-Year Term for Treasure Hunt
CIA Worker Who Stole Underwear, Valuables Has Mental Problems, Psychologist Says

By Tom Jackman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, February 10, 2007

A CIA employee who broke into McLean homes, stealing valuables and 1,074 pairs of women's undergarments, suffered from several mental health disorders, a forensic psychologist testified yesterday. Among other compulsions, he kept his fingernail clippings for 20 years and carefully inspected his pens for fear that they were bugged.

Anita Boss, testifying at the sentencing hearing for George C. Dalmas III, said the 48-year-old father of two had a "transvestic fetishism," which involved wearing women's clothes not for erotic reasons but to comfort himself. She said he also had a schizotypal personality disorder, making it difficult for him to form long-term relationships. The combination of the disorders "can be very disabling," Boss said.

After her testimony, Dalmas, who has been fired from his mid-level administrative job at the CIA, was sentenced in Fairfax County Circuit Court to three years in prison and ordered to pay $82,500 in restitution to his victims, some of whom worked at the agency.

Dalmas spoke for the first time about his crimes, though he said he could offer no reason for breaking into 17 homes between October 2005 and January 2006. Boss and his attorney said serious mental health issues were at the root of Dalmas's short, nonviolent rampage.

"I'm very, very, very remorseful for what I have done," Dalmas said as a crowded courtroom full of his burglary victims listened. "I do not have a rational explanation for what I've done. . . . I realize there has been emotional impact to all the families, and I never intended to harm you or make such an impact as I did."

After Dalmas was arrested at his Falls Church home in January 2006, he was suspended from his job at the CIA, officials there said, then was fired in August. His attorney, Gary Moliken, said Dalmas forfeited his pension as a result. His wife and children have moved to Iowa, Moliken said.

Dalmas was caught after a McLean woman, Lori Meyer, came home one evening and found him inside. Dalmas bolted out the door, but Meyer followed, carrying her 8-month-old son. She flagged down a passing motorist, and the ad hoc crime fighters followed Dalmas until they got his license plate number and a good look at his face.

Dalmas was arrested days later, and police obtained search warrants for his home. Inside, they found vast amounts of purloined jewelry, antiquities -- and 1,074 pairs of women's undergarments, according to court records. Dalmas said yesterday that "every item that I took was in the house" when he was arrested, but the victims disputed that and provided Fairfax Circuit Court Judge Robert W. Wooldridge Jr. with estimated values of items they said had not been recovered.

While he was in jail, Dalmas was interviewed repeatedly by Boss, the forensic psychologist, who determined that Dalmas had three mental health disorders, the first being obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Meyer was the only victim to testify yesterday, but most submitted letters to the judge. "I'm pretty nervous in the house still," Meyer said.

Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney William Rhyne said Dalmas knew several of his victims as co-workers at the CIA. "There is evidence that Mr. Dalmas was casing the homes of these individuals," Rhyne said, "and he struck when he knew they would be gone."

Dalmas pleaded guilty in November to 10 counts of burglary. Moliken asked the judge for probation, noting that Dalmas had served a year, that he was not violent and that he suffers from "severe and significant mental health illness."

Wooldridge acknowledged Dalmas's mental illness and told the victims, "There's no sentence that I can impose today that likely will restore the sense of security and refuge you have in your home." On the 10 counts, he sentenced Dalmas to a total of 24 years but suspended 21 of those years. He also placed Dalmas on probation for 10 years.

"He got off light," said victim Ian Hartwell. But Meyer said she thought the three-year term was appropriate. Others declined to comment.