Man used social-media accounts to threaten woman, complaint says

For six months, Mario Perez used dozens of fake social-media accounts to threaten to kill a woman who lived in Davie and later moved to Los Angeles, according to a criminal complaint.

Perez, 21, of Spring Texas, was recently arrested on federal charges of cyberstalking. Though the case was filed in in the Southern District of Florida, Perez made his first appearance in the Southern District of Texas last week.

If convicted, he could face five years in federal prison.

According to investigators, Perez created accounts on Instagram and Tik Tok to “threaten and harass the victim” beginning in June 2019.

Through the platforms, Perez “attacked the character of the victim, and indicated that [he] had the intent and means to locate her to inflict bodily harm and/or death upon her,” an investigator wrote in the complaint.

“Perez posted racist and derogatory comments in connection with the victim, including racist comments about black Americans,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

Perez even posted the address of the victim’s parents’ home in Florida.

In June 2020, the victim and her mother reported the threats to authorities after “the threats increased in severity and seriousness,” an investigator wrote in the complaint.

“When the victim moved from South Florida to Los Angeles in July 2020, the harassment and threats continued,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. “The complaint alleges that Perez found the young woman’s home address and shared it on-line under a fake social media account and threatened to hurt or kill her.”

Investigators were able to trace the threats back to Perez.