Hollister woman arrested for lewd acts with a minor and posting images online

By Felix Cortez

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    HOLLISTER, Calif. (KSBW) — A “cyber-tip” from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children led to the arrest of a Hollister mother now accused of performing lewd acts with a young girl and then posting pictures and videos on the internet.

“Yeah, very graphic something a normal person does not want to see, it’s difficult for us,” said Breyon Canez, with the San Benito County Sheriff’s Office.

Sheriff’s deputies were alerted to the alleged crimes from the national child advocacy group and an Internet Crimes Against Children task force. Investigators said they received a so-called “priority 1-cyber tip,” meaning the alleged crimes were happening in real time.

“It means that the victim or the child is an imminent risk, so, meaning it’s actively happening, and that we need to act quickly so that we can prevent anything currently happening or possibly potentially happening in the future, so that they’re no longer a victim,” said Canez.

Investigators say within two hours of receiving that tip, deputies had identified the suspect, her location, and arrested 31-year-old Fidelina Perez.

“If people think you can get away with things because you’re on the internet, you just can’t, the fact of the matter is that law enforcement will find you, will prosecute you and if you’re prosecuted at our level, consider yourself lucky you could be prosecuted at the federal level as well,” said San Benito county district attorney Joel Buckingham.

According to the two-page criminal complaint, there is only one victim, identified as Jane Doe, under the age of 14. Investigators don’t believe there are more victims, but they’ve identified several persons who may have received images from Perez.

“At this point, you feel for the kid, you know what I mean, and that’s what it comes down to, that’s what we’re trying to prevent, we don’t want any kid to be put in that situation and it’s sad and it’s unfortunate,” said Canez. An attorney for Fidelina Perez said his client herself was a victim of childhood sexual and physical abuse.

A statement issued by defense attorney Brian Worthington said in part, “Based on what I know of Ms. Perez’s childhood and the alleged conduct in this case, I am confident that the court will find that there is a relationship between her childhood trauma and the alleged conduct.”

Perez’s past abuse doesn’t excuse the alleged behavior, but it could be a mitigating factor at sentencing should Perez be convicted of the charges.

Perez has pleaded not guilty, and a judge allowed her to post bail; she is currently out of custody after posting $75,000 bail.

Perez is due back in court on July 14 to set a date for her preliminary hearing.

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