ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — A retired Foreign Service officer has pleaded guilty to having sex with one minor and exchanging explicit images with another while he was stationed in the Philippines.
Dean Cheves, 63, pleaded guilty Monday in U.S. District Court in Alexandria to two counts of engaging in illicit sexual conduct in a foreign place in 2020 and 2021.
Cheves admitted having sex with a 16-year-old girl twice in the Philippines after meeting her online. In chats he said he needed to be “extra careful” about the relationship because “(t)his kind of thing causes international incidents.”
He also admitted meeting a 15-year-old girl and paying her to send him sexually explicit images.
Cheves retired from the Foreign Service in September 2021, shortly after he returned to the U.S. in connection with the criminal investigation. He was previously stationed in Brazil.
Court papers indicate he told the 16-year-old that he also had sex with a 14-year-old girl in Brazil. An FBI affidavit states one of his seized phones contained contact information for numerous minors, listing their dates of birth and account information for sending them electronic payments.
Cheves faces up to 30 years of prison on each count when he is sentenced Jan. 20.
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