Two US airmen stationed in Delaware are being held on federal charges after paying $20 for a 15-year-old girl, sexually abusing her for months, possibly impregnating her, and taking pornographic photos and videos of her.
The two active airmen assigned to Dover Air Force Base, identified as Airman First Class Dalian Washington, 25, and Airman First Class Akeem Beazer, 21, were arrested on March 31. Both men were charged with sexual abuse of a minor, while Washington also faces one count of sex trafficking of a child, according to criminal complaints filed with the US District Court in Wilmington, Delaware, which were unsealed Friday.
The men were arrested after a 15-year-old girl told a social worker about having sexual relations with the two men at the base. Her disclosure led to a joint investigation conducted by the US Air Force Office of Special Investigations (OSI), the FBI, and the Delaware State Police.
On March 16, OIS interviewed the girl, who claimed she ran away from home. Allegedly, the girl met a man who “offered to hook her up with a friend of his, who was an Air Force serviceman but that she would have to have sex with him.” The girl said she agreed and later met Washington at the Department of Motor Vehicles in Dover, where he picked her up and took her back to the base.
Washington told investigators that he paid $20 to someone he identified as the girl’s “pimp,” who was “trickin’ [her] off.” Washington also told investigators that he had never done "that" before, but he “had no problem with that.”
The girl said she stayed with Washington in his dorm room on the base, where the two engaged in unprotected sex, which continued "on and off for the next several months." Washington also said that he exchanged naked pictures with the 15-year-old girl through text messages and recorded a pornographic video of her, which he saved on his computer.
Washington later introduced the girl to Beazer, who also had sex with her on several occasions, according to the criminal complaints.
The airmen both said that the girl initially lied about her age, but later admitted she was only 15. Washington told investigators that he and Beazer “talked about how having sex with her wasn't a good idea,” but admitted they did not stop after discovering she was underage.
When Beazer was interviewed by OIS, he claimed to have met the girl on several occasions before he brought her back to his room, where the girl got naked and “kept messing with him so that he would notice her.”
Beazer claims he had sex with the girl on several occasions, both on and off the base, including on the side of the road and at her father’s house on New Year’s Eve. Beazer also told investigators that he ejaculated inside the girl on several occasions until he realized that she was pregnant.
Investigators asked the girl to draw a layout of Washington’s room, which they later confirmed “generally matched” the plan of the room. Searching Washington’s dorm room, investigators also recovered one personal item of clothing belonging to the girl, as well as a pornographic video and more than 150 naked photos of the girl.
Kimberlynn Reeves, the spokeswoman for US Attorney David Weiss, said that if they are convicted, Washington faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 or up to 20 years, while Beazer faces a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison, according to the Dover Post.