A federal jury in New Jersey late last week convicted a 31-year-old Burlington County man in connection with illicit 2024 conversations he had while serving as an Air Force captain with a person he believed was a 14-year-old girl, U.S. Attorney Robert Frazier said Monday.
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Gabriel Perez, of Eastampton Township, faces a mandatory minimum 10 years in prison and a maximum sentence of life after having been found guilty on Friday of attempted enticement and coercion of a minor, Frazier said. Perez also faces up to 10 years in prison for attempted transfer of obscene material to a minor.
Perez, who was indicted in early April, is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 9. The trial lasted five days before U.S. District Judge Christine P. O’Hearn in Camden federal court.
An attorney representing Perez could not be reached for comment. The Air Force also could not be reached for comment on his status.
In August 2024, Perez, then a 29-year-old Air Force captain, communicated on a social media platform with a law enforcement officer posing as a 14-year-old girl, investigators said.
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Within around a day of learning the purported girl’s age, Perez expressed interest in sexual contact with the young teen, investigators said.
On Aug. 28, 2024, Perez sent an obscene photograph of himself the purported girl and arranged to meet her the next day for sexual contact, investigators said.
Perez drove to the prearranged meeting location with condoms in his pocket and was arrested, investigators said.
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