A former U.S. State Department employee has been sentenced to 15 years after soliciting sex from minors in the Philippines over the course of four months.
Dean Edward Cheves, 63, was sentenced to 15 years in prison on March 17 after pleading guilty to “engaging in illicit sexual conduct” in October 2022, according to a press release from the Eastern District of Virginia US Attorney’s office. Cheves, who served at the U.S. Embassy in the Philippines from 2017 to 2021, was accused of knowingly engaging in sex acts with and obtaining illicit images of minors while serving in his capacity as a representative of the US government, the release stated.
Former U.S. State Department embassy employee sentenced for engaging in illicit sexual conduct with two minors in the Philippines.
Used his government-issued cell phone to film the sex acts on at least one occasion.https://t.co/NHOIYacaxU
— U.S. Attorney EDVA (@EDVAnews) March 17, 2023
From Dec. 2020 to March 2021, Cheves reportedly used a messaging application on his cell phone to communicate with a 15 or 16-year-old Filipino minor. In those communications, Cheves reportedly paid the minor to create and send sexually explicit images, the release stated.
In Feb. 2021, Cheves reportedly engaged in sexual acts with another 16-year-old Filipino minor whom he met online, using his government-issued phone to record those acts on at least one of the occasions. Authorities discovered this explicit material after the devices were seized from Cheves’ residence at the US Embassy in the Manila, according to the release. (RELATED: State Department Spent Taxpayer Money On Drag Shows In Ecuador)
Cheves reportedly knew both victims were underage when he solicited them, the release added.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) Office of Special Investigations assisted by the DSS Regional Security Office, Homeland Security Investigations Attaché’s Office in the Philippines, and the Philippine National Police, according to the release.