Fort Myers Man Sentenced to More than 21 Years in Federal Prison for Child Exploitation Offenses

Fort Myers, Florida - Rudy Perez (41, Fort Myers) has been sentenced by U.S. District Judge Sheri Polster Chappell to 21 years and 8 months in federal prison for enticing minors to engage in sexual activity, receiving and possessing images and videos depicting the sexual abuse of children, and transferring obscene matter to a minor. Perez was found guilty on August 3, 2026, following a bench trial. Perez was also sentenced to a term of life of supervised release and ordered to register as a sex offender. United States Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe made the announcement.

According to court documents, between January and April 2022, Perez used a social media application to persuade, induce, and entice a minor to engage in sexual activity. In January 2025, a social media application made a Cybertipline Report to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) that Perez was involved with the online enticement of children for sexual acts.

During the course of the investigation, law enforcement obtained a search warrant for Perez's social media account. The FBI observed that Perez had enticed and solicited numerous other users who had identified themselves as children for sexually explicit images, and several minor children sent sexually explicit material to Perez at his request. Further, Perez sent photographs and sexually explicit videos and images of adults to numerous users who had identified themselves as children.

Pursuant to a search warrant, Perez's cellphone was seized and a subsequent forensic analysis revealed that Perez possessed child sexual abuse material, including numerous videos depicting the sexual abuse of minors.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Fort Myers Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force, which includes the Lee County Sheriff's Office. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Yolande G. Viacava.

This is another case 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.