A Cumberland man has been sentenced to over six years in federal prison for cyberstalking and distributing child sexual abuse material. Acting United States Attorney Sara Miron Bloom announced that Melvin Vidal Herrera Perez, 21, received a sentence of 78 months incarceration, followed by 10 years of supervised release. He was also ordered to register as a sex offender and pay $38,000 under the Justice for Victims Act of 2015 and the Amy, Vicky, and Andy Child Pornography Victim Assistance Act of 2018.
Perez pleaded guilty in May 2025 to one count of cyberstalking and four counts of distribution of child pornography. Court documents revealed that Perez befriended the victim online when she was fourteen. Over about four years, he encouraged her to send sexually explicit images. In fall 2024, after the victim tried to end their friendship at age nineteen, Perez harassed her by creating a Google Drive link with child pornography images produced at his request. He set up social media accounts displaying explicit images of the victim and shared these links widely among her acquaintances via texts and emails.
Information presented in court indicated that Perez justified his actions by claiming he was “doing God’s work” while harassing the victim and sharing her personal information.
Assistant United States Attorney Julie M. White prosecuted the case. The FBI led the investigation with support from the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office and other local agencies.
This prosecution is part of Project Safe Childhood, an initiative launched by the Department of Justice in May 2006 to address child sexual exploitation and abuse by coordinating federal, state, and local resources for prosecution and victim rescue efforts. More details about Project Safe Childhood can be found at https://www.justice.gov/psc.
