Long recognized as one of the nation's wealthiest communities, Dallas suburb University Park has earned itself a new claim to fame thanks to Erika Perdue — the socialite who supplied federal authorities with hundreds of images from her child pornography collection.
Using the online name "Classybitch," Perdue unwittingly led FBI agents to her $1.5 million home where she had been swapping kiddie porn since the late 1990s. WFAA TV in Dallas reports that the images from her confiscated computer were extremely graphic in nature, showing children as small as toddlers engaged in sex acts with adults.
Apparently Perdue collected so much child pornography in 2012, she was unable to remember which images and videos she unknowingly shared with federal authorities.
The U.S. District Attorney's Office charged the 41-year-old mother — yup, she's a mom too — with four counts of shipping, receiving and possessing child pornography. The District Attorney's branch in Dallas, which is handling all inquiries into the Perdue case, told CultureMap it was unable to comment at the moment. A court trial is set for September 10.
According to court documents, the FBI has been on Perdue's trail since early January as she used file-sharing sites to exchange underage porn on a daily basis while her husband, a noted area lawyer, was at work. Apparently she collected so much pornography in 2012, she was unable to remember which images and videos she unknowingly shared with authorities.
WFAA notes that, before it was removed from public view, Perdue's Facebook page showed the socialite posing in provocative pictures as well as a image of the couple's 2010 Chevrolet Camaro and its now-extra-creepy "MY SYN" vanity plates.
University Park information officer Steve Mace told CultureMap Monday that area residents are sharing the "same shock, dismay and discomfort one would expect from an incident like this . . . no matter where it happens."
