Arrest warrant out vs ex-US diplomat indicted for illicit sexual conduct in PH

THE Philippines has issued a warrant of arrest against former United States diplomat Dean Cheves for engaging in sexual activity with a minor while posted in the country.

The Pasay Regional Trial Court issued the arrest warrant for Cheves, 61, for violation of Republic Act 7610 or the Child Abuse Law, and Republic Act 9775 or the Anti-Child Pornography Act.

In the warrant signed Monday, August 23, Judge Christian Castañeda ordered law enforcement agents to arrest Cheves and “bring him forthwith before this Court to be dealt with according to law.”

A bail of P200,000 was set by the court for each case.

However, Cheves was sent back to the U.S. in March, according to the Philippine Department of Justice (DOJ).

Previously, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said that the DOJ is coordinating with the country’s Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on relevant legal issues such as diplomatic immunity under the Vienna Convention and territorial jurisdiction.

“Assuming that these issues have been clarified, we shall proceed to coordinate with the U.S. Department of Justice under the umbrella of the RP-U.S. mutual legal assistance treaty,” he said on Aug. 9.

The domestic case was launched following a complaint filed by the mother of the 16-year-old victim.

In the Pasay City Office of the City Prosecutor’s resolution, it states that the victim, “Jane,” met Cheves through an online dating app and met him personally on February 12 in Makati City where she was asked to perform oral sex.

They met again on Feb. 22 in Pasay City where they took videos of their sexual activity in a motel.

“The Anti-Cybercrime group of the Philippine National Police submitted their examination on the contents of the Samsung cellular phone with SIM and it shows the sexual and lewd conversation between the minor child and Dean Edward Cheves along with screenshots of the video recording of the sexual intercourse by the respondent and the minor child,” the resolution said.

“The acts of the respondent have debased, degraded, and demeaned the intrinsic worth and dignity of the child as a human being,” it added.

Cheves served at the U.S. Embassy in the Philippines between September 2020 and February 2021.

A Virginia court likewise indicted Cheves for sexual relations with a minor.

He 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 U.S. or on lands owned or leased by the U.S.