The Department of Justice is assessing whether it will request for extradition or just assist its counterparts in pursuing a case against a former American embassy official who allegedly sexually abused a minor.
Dean Edward Cheves, who served at the US Embassy in Manila between September 2020 and February 2021, was indicted by a federal grand jury at the Eastern District of Virginia on Aug. 3 for sexual relations with a 16-year-old Filipino girl, whom he allegedly met online.
“We are still considering two options at the moment: First, his extradition which is still being studied by the DOJ together with the DFA (Department of Foreign Affairs), and second, providing assistance to the US under the PH-US Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) in Criminal Matters in connection with the criminal cases filed against Cheves in the US,” DOJ Undersecretary and spokesperson Emmeline Villar said in a statement.
The options are not mutually exclusive and can be pursued at the same time, Villar added.
The MLAT aids government prosecutors in gathering evidence located overseas even during the investigatory stage.
The Pasay Regional Trial Court signed the warrant for the 61-year-old Cheves’ arrest on Aug. 23 for violation of Republic Acts 7610 (child abuse law) and 9775 (anti-child pornography law).
Judge Christian Castañeda of Branch 109 recommended a bail of P200,000 for each case.
Cheves was sent back to the US in March 2021.
“Court documents further detailed 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 US DOJ said in a previous statement.
If convicted in the US, he can be handed the maximum penalty of up to 30 years imprisonment on count one and up to 10 years on count two.
The videos were reportedly found on Cheves’ devices seized from his embassy-provided residence while in the Philippines.