Chesapeake man sentenced to 17 years in prison after traveling to the Philippines to have sex with a minor

NORFOLK, Va. - A Chesapeake man was sentenced today to 17 years in prison for travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual activity.

According to court documents, through an online dating site, Dylan Joseph Knauer, 32, met a minor victim who resided in the Philippines, and began chatting, video calling, and "sexting" with the minor. Knauer traveled to the Philippines in April and May of 2025 and had sex with the victim, who was 14 years old.

On Oct. 22, 2025, Knauer asked the victim to make a sexually explicit video of herself. On Oct. 23, 2025, law enforcement learned that Knauer was scheduled to travel from Norfolk to Denver to Japan with a final destination of the Philippines. After boarding his flight from Denver to Japan, Knauer was removed from the aircraft.

The FBI's Norfolk Field Office investigated this case with assistance from Homeland Security Investigations, the Federal Air Marshals Service, Customs and Border Protection, and the Denver Police Department.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Kristen S. Taylor prosecuted the case.

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 U.S. Attorneys' Offices and the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc.

Related court documents and information are located on the website of the District CourtLinks to other government and non-government sites will typically appear with the "external link" icon to indicate that you are leaving the Department of Justice website when you click the link. for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACERLinks to other government and non-government sites will typically appear with the "external link" icon to indicate that you are leaving the Department of Justice website when you click the link. by searching for Case No. 2:26-cr-1.