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Dean Edward Cheves, 63, pleaded guilty to two counts of engaging in illicit sexual conduct in a foreign place on Monday, Oct. 24, according to the US Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia.
Cheves met multiple minors over the Internet while serving at the US Embassy in the Philippines from 2017 to 2021, federal officials said.
From Dec. 2020 to March 2021, the man communicated online with a then 15 to 16-year-old Philippine juvenile, who he paid to make and send sexually explicit images.
The man also "engaged in sex acts" on two separate occasions in February 2021 with a second 16-year-old Philippine victim who he met online, using his government-issued cell phone to film the sex acts on at least one occasion, prosecutors said.
He knew the ages of both minors at the time he engaged in the conduct, the DOJ said.
The child porn files were eventually seized from Cheves’ embassy home in the Philippines.
Cheves is scheduled to be sentenced on January 20, 2023. He faces a maximum penalty of up to 30 years in prison on each count.
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