A 63-year-old former officer of the US Embassy in Manila has pleaded guilty to engaging in illicit sexual conduct in the Philippines, the US Department of Justice has said.
The US DOJ said Dean Cheves, who worked at the US Embassy in the Philippines from 2017 to 2022, is scheduled to be sentenced in January 2023.
He is facing a maximum penalty of up to 30 years of imprisonment for each count against him.
Citing court documents, the US DOJ said Cheves paid a minor to produce and send him sexually explicit images from December 2020 to March 2021.
It said that Cheves in February 2021 engaged in sex acts on two separate occasions with another minor whom he met online, using his government-issued cell phone to film himself.
In the Philippines, his cases for violation of the laws against child abuse and child pornography are pending before the Pasay Regional Trial Court Branch 109.
Cheves was sent back to the US in March 2021.
The Philippines’ DOJ had said that it was studying the possibility of seeking extradition to bring Chevesback to the Philippines and subject him to the jurisdiction of a Philippine court to face his charges.
GMA News Online has sought comment from the DOJ but has yet to receive a reply as of posting time. —NB, GMA News
