Visalia Man Arrested on Sex Trafficking Charges

FRESNO, CA—United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced that on March 8, 2012, a federal grand jury returned a two-count indictment charging Alejandro Manuel Perez, 26, of Visalia, with sex trafficking of a minor by force, fraud, or coercion. Perez was arrested this morning and arraigned this afternoon. He pleaded not guilty to the charges.

According to the indictment, from February to March 2010, Perez forced a 16-year-old girl into prostitution in Tulare County and benefitted financially from the same.

If convicted, Perez faces a prison term of 15 years to life, a $250,000 fine, and a lifetime term of supervised release. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory sentencing factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.

A detention hearing has been scheduled before United States Magistrate Judge Dennis L. Beck on Tuesday, March 27, 2012, and Perez remains in custody pending this hearing. This case is the result of an extensive investigation by the Fresno Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Visalia Police Department. Assistant United States Attorney Brian W. Enos is prosecuting the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) in the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov or call the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California and ask to speak with the PSC coordinator.