Former JBLM staff sergeant pleads guilty to sex trafficking children

TACOMA, Wash. - A former staff sergeant at Joint Base Lewis-McChord pleaded guilty to charges he traveled to a foreign country to have sex with children.

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, 37-year-old Moeun Yoeun of Steilacoom pleaded guilty Tuesday to sex trafficking children, production of child pornography and engaging in illicit sexual activity in a foreign place.

Yoeun's plea bargain will have prosecutors move to drop "additional offenses available based on the evidence"—Yoeun admitted to engaging in sexual acts with at least six children, court documents say.

Yoeun faces a maximum penalty of up to life in prison, and a mandatory minimum of 15 years. He will also have to register as a sex offender after he is released, if he is convicted.

According to court docs, Yoeun admitted to using adults and children in the Philippines to recruit more than a dozen other children to produce pornography. This reportedly occurred over the course of several years.

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Yoeun is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 5, 2022.