United States Attorney Dennis R. Holmes announced that a Watertown, South Dakota, man convicted at a jury trial of one count of Receipt and Distribution of Child Pornography and one count of Transportation of Child Pornography was sentenced on March 15, 2022, by U.S. District Judge Charles B. Kornmann.
Vincent Michael Perez, age 37, was sentenced to 262 months in federal prison for each count to be served concurrently, 10 years of supervised release on each count to run concurrently, and a special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund in the amount of $200.
Perez was indicted by a federal grand jury on August 17, 2020.
The conviction stemmed from incidents between August 7 and August 17, 2019, when Perez knowingly received and distributed child pornography using a MeWe social media account. Perez also uploaded pornographic images of children to the same social media account. Law enforcement investigated the case after receiving a cybertip generated by MeWe. A detective with the Watertown Police Department tracked the history of internet use to Perez. The MeWe account contained numerous files of child pornography that Perez shared with other MeWe users.
This case was investigated by the Watertown Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey C. Clapper prosecuted the case.
Perez was immediately turned over to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.