United States of America v. Sadig Rauf Perry

Lafayette, Louisiana, criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant charged with transportation of a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity.

By Kent Morlan

This case arose from a parent reporting her 14-year-old daughter to have run away from home after the mother found her engaging in inappropriate communications with someone online claiming to be 18 years old. Shortly after taking her phone and grounding her, the parent realized her daughter to be gone. Law enforcement found that a rideshare transported the 14-year-old to the airport, and she boarded a flight for Norfolk, VA. Both the rideshare and airline flight were purchased by Perry. Sadiq Rauf Perry, a 27-year-old, ensured the minor victim would be able to board the flight without suspicion by providing a fictitious date of birth for her that falsely represented her to be old enough to travel unaccompanied.

Law enforcement secured video surveillance showing the minor to have flown from Lafayette to Virginia and to have been picked up by Perry, who was driving a vehicle registered to him. Law enforcement tracked Perry to a hotel where law enforcement found both Perry and the minor sharing a room with one bed. The minor later disclosed that Perry and she had sexual intercourse at the hotel.

This case is being investigated by the New Orleans and Norfolk Field Offices of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Lafayette Parish Sheriff’s Office, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, and Virginia Beach Police Department. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lauren Sarver with assistance from Paralegal Specialist Joanne Henry-Mills.

Law enforcement secured video surveillance showing the minor to have flown from Lafayette to Virginia and to have been picked up by Perry, who was driving a vehicle registered to him. Law enforcement tracked Perry to a hotel where law enforcement found both Perry and the minor sharing a room with one bed. The minor later disclosed that Perry and she had sexual intercourse at the hotel.

This case is being investigated by the New Orleans and Norfolk Field Offices of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Lafayette Parish Sheriff’s Office, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, and Virginia Beach Police Department. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lauren Sarver with assistance from Paralegal Specialist Joanne Henry-Mills.

U.S. Attorney Zachary A. Keller for the Western District of Louisiana made the announcement.

A criminal complaint is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.