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Two years ago, no one had a clue what Erika Perdue had on her computer. Not her intellectual-property lawyer husband. Not her University Park neighbors. Her neon green Camaro with the “My Syn” license plates certainly raised some eyebrows, but no one suspected she was into child porn.
Then, in January 2012, an FBI agent based in Maryland downloaded seven videos (e.g. “2yo+mom+dad”) from a peer-to-peer network user calling herself “Classybitch.” From there, it took little effort to track Perdue down at her $1.4 million UP home and discover that she shared child porn almost every day while her husband was at work, and that she’d been doing so for the past 13 years.
See also: University Park’s Erika Perdue Pleads Guilty to Distributing Child Porn
Even after her arrest and a judge’s ruling that she be detained pending trial, concerned neighbors would report spotting the neon Camaro around town and wonder if she had been released.
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She hadn’t, and she won’t be for some time. On Monday, following Perdue’s September guilty plea to one count of transporting and shipping child pornography, U.S. District Judge Sam Lindsay sentenced Perdue to 14 years in federal prison, with another eight years of supervised release.
Perdue will also be required to pay a $10,000 fine and make $5,000 in restitution to “Vicky,” a child in one of the videos she shared who has been identified by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
Send your story tips to the author, Eric Nicholson.
