A Pasay City regional trial court on Thursday ordered the arrest of former United States foreign service officer Dean Edward Cheves, who has been charged with sexual abuse of a 16-year-old Filipina and possession of pornography.
Judge Christian Castaneda of Pasay City RTC Branch 109 issued the arrest warrant against Cheves, who had served in the Philippines.
The Pasay City Prosecutor’s Office filed the complaint against the American diplomat for violating Section 5(b) of Republic Act No. 7610, the Special Protection of Children against Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act, and Section 4(b) of RA 9775, the Anti-Child Pornography Act of 2009.
The court directed law enforcement to arrest Cheves and “bring him forthwith before this Court to be dealt with according to law” and recommended P200,000 as bail.
With the issuance of the arrest order, the Department of Justice is seriously considering the extradition of Cheves, who is now in the United States where he was indicted by a grand duty in Virginia last August 3 for engaging in illicit sexual conduct in a foreign place and possession of pornography.
Cheves served at the US Embassy in Manila from Sept. 2020 to Feb. 2021. He left for the US last March.
The resolution, which paved the way for the filing of the case before the Pasay City RTC, was signed by Senior Assistant City Prosecutor Alan A. Mangabat and approved by City Prosecutor Elmer Cris L. Rillo.
It stated that the Philippine National Police-Women and Children and Protection Center (PNP-WCPC) endorsed the complaint of the minor’s mother to the Pasay City Prosecutor’s Office after the victim’s school “discovered that she has illicit activities online and she meets older men offline.”
The investigating prosecutor said the victim, identified as “Jane” (not her real name), narrated that “she has previously met Mr. Cheves online when she was only 12 or 13 years old.”
“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 screen shots of the video recording of the sexual intercourse by the respondent and the minor child,” the resolution stated.
The prosecutor noted that the victim met Cheves through the online dating app Bumble and met personally last Feb. 12 in Dasmarinas Village in Makati City, where the victim was asked to do oral sex.
In her narration, the victim said they met again last Feb. 22 and went to a motel in Pasay City where they took videos of their sexual activity.