Former US soldier sentenced for sexually abusing Pinoy kids

MANILA, Philippines — The United States District Court in Tacoma, Washington has sentenced a former US Army soldier to 22 years behind bars for sexually abusing Filipino children.

Moeun Yoeun, 40, of Steilacoom, Washington, will serve the prison term for child sex trafficking, producing child pornography and traveling to the Philippines to sexually assault young children.

The United States Attorney’s Office in the Western District of Washington announced the conviction through its official website, identifying the former soldier as a staff sergeant stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord.

Yoeun was found guilty of sex trafficking children, producing images of child sexual abuse and traveling to sexually abuse children after he pleaded guilty to the charges in August 2022.

The US Attorney’s Office said the former soldier admitted that young girls in the Philippines were threatened with death if they refused his sexual assaults.

“At the sentencing hearing US District Judge Benjamin H. Settle called the crimes ‘vicious, heinous, and cruel’,” a press release read.

“Mr. Yoeun weaponized his position of trust as a noncommissioned officer in the United States Army to sexually exploit and cause irreversible trauma to impoverished girls in the Philippines,” US Attorney Nick Brown said.

“He cruelly threatened their lives if they tried to flee from his violent sexual assaults. This lengthy sentence is necessary to deter Mr. Yoeun and others who prey on children,” he added.

The US Attorney’s Office noted that in the plea agreement, Yoeun admitted to, over the course of several years, using adult and child residents of the Philippines to recruit more than a dozen other children to produce pornography.

He further admitted to traveling to the Philippines and engaging in sexual acts with at least six children in exchange for nominal amounts of money.

US prosecutors cited numerous studies showing the long-term damage suffered by child sex abuse victims, concluding, ”further research only confirmed and expanded upon this emerging understanding of these insidious effects of childhood sexual trauma. Studies now tell us that the numerous child victims in this case, as a direct consequence of the Defendant’s violent sexual attacks, will face an elevated risk of alcohol abuse, illicit drug use, sexual promiscuity and suicide.”

The US Attorney’s Office said Yoeun will be required to register as a sex offender after he is released from prison and will be on federal supervision for 15 years.