A former diplomat who worked for the U.S. Embassy in the Philippines pleaded guilty on Monday to sexually exploiting two young minors in the country, where he used his position and power over the young girls.
Dean Edward Cheves, a 63-year-old man, pleaded guilty to “engaging in illicit sexual conduct in a foreign place” when he reportedly had sex with one minor and had gotten another to send sexually-explicit pictures to him while he was stationed in the U.S. Embassy at the Philippines, according to a Department of Justice press release.
Cheves was serving in the Philippines between 2017 and 2021, and he reportedly had online communications with minors in the country, who were 15 and 16 years old at the time of the incident, Law & Crime reported.
One minor, who was “turning 16” during the timespan of the crime, sent Cheves sexually-explicit videos that involved her masturbating, as well as photographs that were sexual in nature. He also reportedly made her shave her pubic area and made her pose nude for him during this time.
Another minor, a 16-year-old girl, engaged in sex acts with Cheves after his prompting. He reportedly recorded their sexual acts together on his government-issued phone, and had warned the young girl about his government position potentially causing an “international incident.”
“The defendant and Minor 1 engaged in chat conversations, during which the defendant told Minor 1 that he worked for the U.S. Embassy and shared his exact job title, telling Minor 1 that he needed to be ‘extra careful’ because ‘[t]his kind of thing causes international incidents,’” court documents read.
“The defendant later sent videos of these sex acts to Minor 1 on the internet-based messaging platform, noting that he had ‘fixed the exposure,’ that ‘the slo mo one is fun,’ and that the videos would look good posted on a pornography site. The defendant also emailed one of the videos to an email address associated with Minor 1.”
Cheves’ sentencing will be on Jan. 20, 2023, and that he could spend up to 30 years in prison for his crimes.
