U.S. Air Force Service Members Charged With Sex Offenses Involving A Minor

WILMINGTON, Del. – David C. Weiss, Acting United States Attorney for the District of Delaware, announced today that two active duty service members of the United States Air Force have been charged with sex offenses alleged to have occurred on the Dover Air Force Base in Dover, Delaware. Airman First Class Dalian Washington, 25, has been arrested and charged by criminal complaint with Sex Trafficking of a Child and Sexual Abuse of a Minor. Airman First Class Akeem Beazer, 21, has been arrested and charged by criminal complaint with Sexual Abuse of a Minor.

According to the criminal complaints, in approximately August of 2016, Washington obtained a 15-year-old female child for the purpose of having sex with her. Washington picked the child up at the Dover Division of Motor Vehicles (“DMV”) from a man he believed to be her “pimp” in exchange for $20. Washington then took her to his dorm room on base, where she stayed, off and on, for several months. Washington enlisted Beazer to help him look after the child, and Beazer began having sex with her, too.

Washington and Beazer were arrested on March 31, 2017, and they made their initial appearances in United States District Court that afternoon. Washington and Beazer waived their rights to preliminary and detention hearings. They will remain in custody pending further proceedings.

If convicted, Washington faces a mandatory minimum sentence of at least ten years, and up to twenty years, in prison. Beazer faces a maximum sentence of fifteen years in prison.

Any person possessing information about this matter is encouraged to contact the Federal Bureau of Investigation at (410) 265-8080.

The case is being investigated by the United States Air Force Office of Special Investigations, the Delaware State Police, the Delaware Department of Justice, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Elizabeth L. Van Pelt is prosecuting the case on behalf of the United States.

The charges in the criminal complaints are only allegations, and the defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.