US court indicts former US diplomat in Philippines for sexual misconduct, child pornography

An American diplomat formerly assigned at the US Embassy in Manila was indicted by a federal grand jury in the Eastern District of Virginia for engaging in illicit sexual conduct in a foreign place and possession of child pornography.

In a statement on Aug. 3, the US Department of Justice identified the diplomat as Dean Cheves, 61, a member of the U.S. Foreign Service serving at the U.S. Embassy in the Philippines between September 2020 and February 2021.

Citing indictment and court documents, the U.S. DOJ said Cheves, while in the Philippines, allegedly met a 16-year-old online and allegedly engaged in sexual activity with the minor on two occasions.

Cheves, the DOJ statement said, produced cell phone videos of himself engaging in the sex acts each time.

"The videos were found on Cheves’s devices seized from his embassy residence while in the Philippines. Between February 2021 and March 2021, he also allegedly possessed child pornography," the U.S. DOJ said.

Cheves is charged with one count of engaging in illicit sexual conduct in a foreign place and one count of possessing child pornography in the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States or on lands owned or leased by the United States, the statement said.

The State Department, Diplomatic Security Service, is also investigating the case.

"If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of up to 30 years in prison on count one, and up to 10 years in prison on count two. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors," the U.S. DOJ said.

Cheves made his initial court appearance on July 6 before U.S. Magistrate Judge Ivan D. Davis of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.—AOL, GMA News