Former State Department employee sentenced to prison for child sex crimes while working in Philippines

(The AEGIS Alliance) – On Friday, a former employee of the State Department was sentenced to 15 years in prison for sexually abusing minors while working overseas. The Department of Justice revealed that Dean Edward Cheves, a 63-year-old who was stationed at the U.S. Embassy in the Philippines between 2017 and 2021, pleaded guilty in October 2022 to have engaged in illicit sexual conduct in a foreign location.

Based on court records, Cheves utilized his personal cell phone to engage in inappropriate communication with two teenage girls in the Philippines whom he had encountered online, and he was aware that both were underage. The DOJ also disclosed that Cheves made use of his government-issued iPhone 11 to record several videos of sexual acts involving one of the girls. Following the confiscation of his embassy residence in the Philippines, the child sex abuse content that he had produced was discovered on his phone.

As per the Statement of Facts, Cheves encountered a 15-year-old girl, referred to as Minor 2, on the internet in December 2020. The document revealed that he saved her phone number on his device, accompanied by a note indicating “18-” along with her date of birth.

In January 2021, Cheves bought photos from the minor for 3,500 Philippine pesos, which equates to approximately $67, depicting her participating in sexually explicit activities. He subsequently inquired about the legal age in the Philippines, to which she answered 18. In February, he requested that the same minor “create and forward videos exclusively for him,” and, according to prosecutors, she complied with his demand.

In March, Cheves requested additional photographs from the same girl, and she provided them after he verified that he had transferred additional funds. He replied by stating that he “can’t wait for [the victim] to grow up.”

At the beginning of 2021, Cheves encountered a 16-year-old girl online, known as Minor 1 in the document. He recorded this victim’s phone number and added a note indicating her age as “18-” and her birthdate, high-school grade, and graduation year.

Dean Edward Cheves informed Minor 1 that he was employed by the U.S. Embassy and revealed his specific job position to her. He cautioned her to be “extra cautious” since “this type of situation can lead to international conflicts.” In a subsequent discussion, Cheves disclosed to the girl that 16 years old was older than “the rest” and admitted to having engaged in sexual activities with a 14-year-old in Brazil.

On the 12th of February in 2021, Cheves engaged in a sexual act with Minor 1 in person. Later, a video of the encounter was discovered on his government-issued iPhone 11.

As per the document, the accused sent Minor 1 some money and took her to a hotel in the Philippines known for sexual encounters. While there, he made at least three videos of himself engaging in sexual activities with Minor 1, which he recorded on his government phone.

Cheves later shared the videos with the girl and suggested that “the slo-mo one is enjoyable.” He also mentioned that they would be suitable for a pornography website.

The document’s final verdict stated that the defendant’s actions, as described above, were deliberate and intentional and not the result of any innocent mistake or accident.

Upon his return to the United States in mid-March 2021, Dean Edward Cheves was apprehended in Virginia and taken into custody.

Jeffrey Childers – The AEGIS Alliance – This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.