Foreign Service Specialist Sentenced to 5 Years in Prison for Traveling to Engage in Illicit Sexual Conduct

August 22, 2013 By in Americans Abroad, Court Cases, Diplomatic Security, Foreign Service, Govt Documents, Hall of Shame, State Department, U.S. Missions Tags: , , , , , , , ,

— By Domani Spero

On August 22, 2013, USDOJ announced that Rosauro Pacubas, a U.S. embassy employee was sentenced to 5-years in prison for “traveling to engage in illicit sexual conduct.”

According to the USDOJ statement, Mr. Pacubas was a USG employee at the US Embassy in Manila. The statement says that on March 1, 2012, Pacubas “traveled to Baltimore with his wife and the victim, who was to be evaluated at a hospital in the Baltimore area. During their stay in a hotel in Baltimore, Pacubas sexually abused the victim.”  The statement indicates that on January 2013, Mr. Pacubas was interviewed and admitted sexually abusing the victim during their stay in Baltimore in March 2012.

The back story is more nasty than the press release (statement appended at the end of this post).

The Affidavit in Support of the Arrest Warrant dated January 11, 2013 was filed by DS Special Agent Jonathan Poole. At that time, Mr. Pacubas was assigned, according to the affidavit, to the US Embassy in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia as a U.S. Foreign Service Specialist.  He was under investigation for “sexual abuse of a minor, namely, his adopted daughter.”  The  affidavit shows that Diplomatic Security expected Mr. Pacubas to land at Dulles International Airport in Sterling, VA, on the afternoon of Saturday, January 12, 2013.  The affidavit requested an arrest warrant for Rosauro Pacubas for the charge of “Travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct pursuant to Title 18, U.S.c. § 2423(b).”

A side story — on January 16, 2004, then Ambassador Francis X. Taylor, Assistant Secretary for Diplomatic Security and Director of the Office of Foreign Missions gave a remarks to Security Technical Specialist graduates.  In that remarks. Ambassador Taylor cited in particular, one Rosauro Pacubas:

Rosauro Pacubas (phonetic) is a retired electrician’s mate senior chief. He retired from the Navy after 28 years of honorable service. Rosauro started his employment with the U.S. Government as a dishwasher in the American Embassy in Manila. There he became so impressed with the Marines, he joined the Navy. Smart man.

Now, he is joining the Foreign Service, where he will once again work in a U.S. embassy, this time as a person responsible for ensuring that the technical and physical systems that help protect our facilities and people from harm do not fail us. Welcome back to the Department of State, Rosauro. Isn’t this an American story? I mean this country, and what it provides as a beacon to the world, is unmatched. That’s just one story among millions about opportunities that are created here.

On LinkedIn, one Rosauro Pacubas identifies himself as a security specialist working for the U.S. State Department.

Via USDOJ

U.S. Embassy Employee Sentenced To Prison For Traveling To Engage In Illicit Sexual Conduct

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | August 22, 2013

Baltimore, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Ellen L. Hollander sentenced Rosauro Pacubas, age 58, of Manila, Philippines, today to five years in prison, followed by 10 years of supervised release, for travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct. Judge Hollander ordered that Pacubas pay $21,600 in restitution to the victim. Judge Hollander also ordered that upon his release from prison, Pacubas must register as a sex offender in the place where he resides, where he is an employee, and where he is a student, under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA).

The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein and Special Agent in Charge Niall Meehan of the Washington Field Office of the U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service.

According to the facts presented to the court, Pacubas was a U.S. government embassy employee in Manila, Philippines. On March 1, 2012, Pacubas traveled to Baltimore with his wife and the victim, who was to be evaluated at a hospital in the Baltimore area. During their stay in a hotel in Baltimore, Pacubas sexually abused the victim. Following the victim’s hospital evaluation, she entered a therapeutic boarding school in North Carolina where she disclosed sexual abuse by Pacubas. On January 11, 2013, Pacubas was interviewed and admitted sexually abusing the victim during their stay in Baltimore in March 2012.

This 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. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc. For more information about internet safety education, please visit www.justice.gov/psc and click on the “resources” tab on the left of the page.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein commended the Diplomatic Security Service for its work in the investigation. Mr. Rosenstein thanked Special Assistant U.S. Attorney LisaMarie Freitas of the U.S. Justice Department, Criminal Division, Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Judson T. Mihok, who prosecuted the case.

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