Yeison Perdomo, a 30-year-old residing in St. Louis County, has entered a guilty plea for the charge of coercion and enticement of a minor, following his admission of planning to engage in sexual activity with a 14-year-old he met online. Perdomo encountered the victim on a dating website in February 2024, where she initially misrepresented her age as 20 before eventually revealing her true age; in the span of a little over a week, the two shared thousands of text messages, with discussions frequently turning to the topic of meeting for sexual activity, and Perdomo going as far to suggest marriage upon the victim’s reaching legal adulthood, a move that could possibly grant him lawful U.S. residency status, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
On March 8, Perdomo collected the young girl from her school, taking her to his home in Berkeley, Missouri, her absence leading her family to report her missing—the Chesterfield Police Department later identified Perdomo’s vehicle, leading officers right to his doorstep where both he and the victim were discovered hiding under a blanket in the backseat of the car, Perdomo had to be forcibly removed after refusing police commands and the girl disclosed to authorities that they had engaged in sexual acts. Perdomo, a Spanish citizen unlawfully living in the U.S., now faces a September 18 sentencing hearing where both prosecution and defense will recommend a 10-year prison term; on top of imprisonment, Perdomo will be required to register as a sex offender and will likely face deportation post-release.
The collaborative efforts of the Chesterfield and Berkeley Police Departments along with Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations brought Perdomo to justice, the case being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Hayes and forming part of the broader initiative named Project Safe Childhood; this program, initiated in May 2006 by the Department of Justice and spearheaded by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, marshals an array of federal, state, and local resources to pinpoint and prosecute individuals guilty of child exploitation through the internet and to aid in the rescue of victims, the U.S. Attorney’s Office reports…