Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, October 26) — A former US Department of State employee admitted to engaging in sex acts with minors from 2017 to 2021 while working at the US Embassy in the Philippines.
According to a statement released by the US Department of Justice (DOJ), Dean Edward Cheves “pleaded guilty to engaging in illicit sexual conduct in a foreign place.”
The 63-year-old former US diplomat met “multiple minors over the internet,” the agency said, citing court records.
It narrated that from December 2020 to March 2021, Cheves paid a Filipino minor aged 15-16 to produce and send him sexually explicit images.
Cheves also engaged in sexual acts with a 16-year-old minor on two separate occasions in February 2021, with authorities seizing a government-issued mobile phone he used to film the crime.
The US DOJ said Cheves was aware of the ages of both minors “at the time he engaged in the conduct.”
“Cheves is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 20, 2023 and faces a maximum penalty of up to 30 years in prison on each count. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors,” it said.
