Mom, 11-year-old's sting leads to Lynn predator's pending deportation

LYNN, Mass. - A Lynn mother and her 11-year-old daughter helped police arrest an alleged sexual predator by meeting him in person and then alerting police.

Cesar Perez, 58, is accused of trying to lure an 11-year-old girl into a sexual encounter.

Perez, a Guatemalan foreign national who lives on the third floor of a multi-family home on Summer Street in Lynn, watched the girl in a nearby business before exchanging phone numbers, according to investigators. Police said the two began communicating via WhatsApp.

According to court documents, the girl told authorities "he asked her for sex and was aware that she was only 11."

Police said the girl's mother found out before anything happened, but continued texting Perez, posing as her daughter. She then set Perez up by arranging an encounter near a bus stop on Western Avenue.

In a tactic investigators do not recommend, the mother sent her daughter over to meet the man, as she stood in the distance.

The mom kept her eyes on the child as she called police.

"I mean she's a mom, she's doing what a mom is supposed to do," said Wendy Concepcion, a neighbor.

Authorities warn that the mother's bold game plan, to put her daughter in the presence of an alleged predator, could've turned out differently.

The girl told police that "during the walk he grabbed her by the hand, but she pulled it away."

Perez then reportedly told the girl to “say nothing” as the two heard sirens coming toward them.

Moments later, police showed up and arrested Perez.

Perez is currently locked up in jail in Lynn. However, authorities told Boston 25 News he likely won't be there for too long.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement confirms it has lodged a detainer with Lynn Police to have Perez deported back to his home country.

An ICE spokesperson said Perez had previously been deported back in 2014 but illegally re-entered the country.

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