Individual Sentenced to Over 19 years in Prison for Child Exploitation and Drug Trafficking

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico –Today, Bryan Xavier Pérez Hernández was sentenced by United States District Court Judge María Antongiorgi-Jordan to 235 months (19 years and seven months) in prison, followed by 5 years of supervised release, for production of child exploitation material and drug trafficking charges.

According to court documents, Bryan Xavier Pérez Hernández knowingly used, persuaded, induced, enticed, and coerced 13-year-old female minor G.L.C.C., to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing child exploitation material. On April 18, 2024, Pérez Hernández also pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute cocaine, including distribution to a minor.

On August 16, 2024, Melanie Cruz Clivilles, mother of the minor victim was sentenced to four years in prison for lying to a federal law enforcement agent. Cruz Clivilles made a materially false, fictitious, and fraudulent statement and representation by falsely stating to a Task Force Officer of the United States Department of Homeland Security Investigations that she first met Bryan Xavier Pérez Hernández at the hospital on August 4, 2023, where he arrived with defendant’s deceased daughter G.L.C.C. The statement and representation were false because, as she then and there knew, she had met Pérez Hernández at the latest in July of 2023, and had been with him during a meeting on August 3, 2023.

“This sentence concludes a disturbing case in which a 13-year-old girl died at the hands of her adult boyfriend and her complicit mother,” said W. Stephen Muldrow, United States Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico. “I commend the prosecution team and our law enforcement partners who worked diligently to ensure that these defendants were held accountable for their crimes.”

“13-year-old Gabriela Cabán Cruz died at the hands of individuals she trusted. As a society we can’t accept inappropriate relationships between minors and adults, we need to report, get involved, most importantly if it involves child neglect,’ said Rebecca González-Ramos, Special Agent in Charge HSI San Juan. “Today we mourn the death of a thirteen-year-old who we failed, let’s stay vigilant and if we see something, say something. As an agency our priority will always be the safety of our minors. This sentencing reflects the commitment HSI and the PRPB have towards child exploitation investigations, a tough investigation worked together to seek justice for Gabriela.”

Homeland Security Investigations and the Puerto Rico Police Bureau investigated the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jenifer Hernández Vega, Chief of the Child Exploitation and Immigration Unit prosecuted the case.

For more information about HSI’s efforts to protect children from sexual predators, visit https://www.ice.gov/topics/iGuardians; and to denounce suspicious activities call 787-729-6969.

An indictment is merely an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

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