AN American diplomat has been indicted by a Virginia court for engaging in illicit sexual conduct with a minor and possessing child pornography while stationed in the Philippines.

Dean Cheves, 61, served at the U.S. Embassy in the Philippines between September 2020 and February 2021, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

While in the Philippines, Cheves allegedly met a 16-year-old online. Court documents further detail that Cheves allegedly engaged in sexual activity with the minor on two occasions, knowing the minor’s age, and produced cell phone videos of himself engaging in the sex acts each time, the agency said in a statement on Tuesday, August 3.

The videos were reportedly found on Cheves’s devices seized from his embassy residence while in the Philippines.

He also allegedly possessed child pornography between February to March 2021.

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

Previously, he 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.

If convicted, Cheves 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, said the U.S. DOJ.

The Diplomatic Security Service, Office of Special Investigations is currently investigating the case.

The 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.