Ex-Lewisville officer sentenced to 7 years in prison for stalking
By Brooke Colombo | Denton Record-Chronicle
September 25, 2026 at 6:29 AM CDT
A Denton County judge sentenced a former Lewisville police officer to seven years in prison Friday after he was convicted of stalking a woman while on duty.
A trial jury found Filemon Perez, 34, guilty of stalking as indicted Thursday.
Trial evidence showed he visited the apartment complex of a woman, whom the Denton Record-Chronicle has referred to as K.M., 83 times between May and November 2024.
Perez requested that 362nd District Court Judge Bruce McFarling sentence him instead of the jury.
Stalking is a third-degree felony offense, and Perez faced two to 10 years in prison. He was also eligible for probation.
Prosecutor Dustin Gossage argued to the judge that Perez deserved the maximum prison sentence.
Perez is a predator, Gossage argued, who had a pattern of using his uniform and badge to hunt for vulnerable young women.
This pattern, Gossage argued, started with unwanted flirtations, progressed to stalking, and ultimately concluded in sexual assault.
Before he determined the sentence, McFarling heard testimony from three of the women who accused Perez of inappropriate or criminal behavior.
K.M. told the judge that Perez’s stalking her has left her in a constant state of fear. She worries every time someone knocks on her door, she testified, and does not like to be alone with men.
She has been regularly seeing a therapist and psychologist because of the stalking, she said.
K.M., along with the other women who testified, told the judge that Perez negatively impacted their trust in police officers.
Perez transferred from the Dallas Police Department to the Lewisville Police Department in May 2023.
The first woman to complain of Perez’s on-duty behavior, whom the Record-Chronicle will refer to as A.G., testified about an incident in November 2023 outside a convenience store.
A.G. was 20 years old at the time and living in Lewisville. She said she had just been in a major fight with her boyfriend and stopped at a 7-Eleven on her way home.
She told the judge she had been sobbing on the drive over and was visibly upset.
As A.G. was about to drive away from the convenience store, she said, a police officer in a patrol vehicle pulled up and called out to her. She testified that officer was Perez.
She said Perez asked her if she had seen a suspect on a bike pass by the store. She had not, but he asked her to stay in the parking lot.
A.G. testified that she pulled into a parking spot again, and Perez stopped his patrol vehicle perpendicularly behind hers, partially blocking her into the spot.
She told the judge her vehicle had expired tags and she thought maybe he was stopping her because of that.
Perez approached her window and asked to see her driver’s license, A.G. said. She testified that he never went back to his patrol vehicle to run her driver’s license or license plates.
A.G. testified that it made her uncomfortable when he called her beautiful, started asking her personal questions about her dating life and told her he could treat her better than her boyfriend did.
She said he told her he was 25, but she could tell he was older than that.
The interaction made her feel uneasy, she said, so she told him her parents were at home waiting for her.
He eventually got back in his vehicle, and she drove home.
She told her mom about the interaction and said her mom was very concerned about it.
A.G. moved away shortly after her interaction with Perez and did not report the interaction to the Lewisville Police Department.
Perez’s supervisor, Capt. Jonathan Castro, previously testified that the department received two similar complaints about Perez in February and September 2024.
The women who made those complaints did not testify during the trial. But Castro said the women also described that Perez similarly detained them to ask them inappropriate questions about their dating life.
Perez violated department policies by not activating his body camera during these detainments.
After Perez resigned in December 2024, A.G.’s mother notified the department about the interaction with her daughter a year prior.
Perez resigned after learning he would be terminated following a criminal and internal investigation after another woman, H.S., accused him of sexually assaulting her.
H.S. testified that she encountered Perez while he was on duty in the early hours of Thanksgiving 2024. She was 21 at the time.
H.S. testified she was walking from a bar to her apartment complex, which was about a five-minute walk.
She had had several drinks, she said, and started to feel dizzy and unwell as she arrived at the entrance of her complex. She sat down on the curb.
That’s when officer Perez pulled up in his patrol vehicle, H.S. testified.
He told her his name was Officer Charles, though, she said.
H.S. testified that he made comments about her being intoxicated and insisted on driving her home. She said she told him that wasn’t necessary because her apartment was right there.
H.S. testified that Perez threatened to arrest her for public intoxication if she did not allow him to drive her home.
She got into the patrol vehicle and directed him where to go, she said, but he drove past where she told him to park and went to the rear side of her building.
H.S. testified that he insisted on walking her to her door, too.
When they got to her door, H.S. testified, he asked her for a glass of water. She opened the door, and he followed her inside, she said.
Perez called her beautiful, she testified, and she laughed nervously because she was uncomfortable.
Inside the apartment, H.S. testified, Perez proceeded to assault her.
H.S. testified to the allegation in detail. She appeared visibly distraught as she recounted it, crying, wringing her hands and rocking back and forth.
H.S. testified that she was very intoxicated and in shock. She testified it was not consensual.
The assault stopped, she testified, when a call for service rang out over the officer’s radio.
As he dressed and left the apartment, H.S. testified, Perez repeatedly told her no one needed to know about what happened.
H.S. called her mom and then the police shortly after, she said.
Now-retired Lewisville detective Scott Kelly responded to her apartment and began criminally investigating Perez.
That investigation led Kelly to obtain a warrant for Perez’s arrest for sexual assault.
Gossage remarked earlier in Perez’s trial that the sexual assault case has not been presented to a grand jury for indictment.
Defense attorney Bruce Isaacks argued to the judge that there was nothing in Perez’s interactions with A.G. that he should be punished for.
As for H.S., Isaacks cast doubt on her credibility in his closing arguments to the judge and characterized the sexual interaction as consensual.
The judge heard that Perez was married and a father to a young boy when the stalking and other allegations occurred.
Isaacks argued that stepping out on his marriage was a moral failing, not a criminal one.
Perez’s family members asked the judge to consider giving Perez probation so that he could continue to provide financially and emotionally for his son.
Perez’s ex-wife has custody of the boy, as Perez moved from Denton to San Antonio to live with a family member. He had visitation rights to his son and paid child support.
Isaacks unsuccessfully argued that Perez had already been punished enough by losing his job and family.
The stalking felony conviction, Isaacks argued, would prevent him from being a police officer again, and therefore, there was no reason to imprison him to protect the public.
McFarling took a brief recess to consider all the testimony.
McFarling announced the seven-year sentence, then promptly directed the sheriff’s deputies to escort a stoic Perez out of the courtroom to begin serving his time.
A trial jury found Filemon Perez, 34, guilty of stalking as indicted Thursday.
Trial evidence showed he visited the apartment complex of a woman, whom the Denton Record-Chronicle has referred to as K.M., 83 times between May and November 2024.
Perez requested that 362nd District Court Judge Bruce McFarling sentence him instead of the jury.
Stalking is a third-degree felony offense, and Perez faced two to 10 years in prison. He was also eligible for probation.
Prosecutor Dustin Gossage argued to the judge that Perez deserved the maximum prison sentence.
Perez is a predator, Gossage argued, who had a pattern of using his uniform and badge to hunt for vulnerable young women.
This pattern, Gossage argued, started with unwanted flirtations, progressed to stalking, and ultimately concluded in sexual assault.
Before he determined the sentence, McFarling heard testimony from three of the women who accused Perez of inappropriate or criminal behavior.
K.M. told the judge that Perez’s stalking her has left her in a constant state of fear. She worries every time someone knocks on her door, she testified, and does not like to be alone with men.
She has been regularly seeing a therapist and psychologist because of the stalking, she said.
K.M., along with the other women who testified, told the judge that Perez negatively impacted their trust in police officers.
Perez transferred from the Dallas Police Department to the Lewisville Police Department in May 2023.
The first woman to complain of Perez’s on-duty behavior, whom the Record-Chronicle will refer to as A.G., testified about an incident in November 2023 outside a convenience store.
A.G. was 20 years old at the time and living in Lewisville. She said she had just been in a major fight with her boyfriend and stopped at a 7-Eleven on her way home.
She told the judge she had been sobbing on the drive over and was visibly upset.
As A.G. was about to drive away from the convenience store, she said, a police officer in a patrol vehicle pulled up and called out to her. She testified that officer was Perez.
She said Perez asked her if she had seen a suspect on a bike pass by the store. She had not, but he asked her to stay in the parking lot.
A.G. testified that she pulled into a parking spot again, and Perez stopped his patrol vehicle perpendicularly behind hers, partially blocking her into the spot.
She told the judge her vehicle had expired tags and she thought maybe he was stopping her because of that.
Perez approached her window and asked to see her driver’s license, A.G. said. She testified that he never went back to his patrol vehicle to run her driver’s license or license plates.
A.G. testified that it made her uncomfortable when he called her beautiful, started asking her personal questions about her dating life and told her he could treat her better than her boyfriend did.
She said he told her he was 25, but she could tell he was older than that.
The interaction made her feel uneasy, she said, so she told him her parents were at home waiting for her.
He eventually got back in his vehicle, and she drove home.
She told her mom about the interaction and said her mom was very concerned about it.
A.G. moved away shortly after her interaction with Perez and did not report the interaction to the Lewisville Police Department.
Perez’s supervisor, Capt. Jonathan Castro, previously testified that the department received two similar complaints about Perez in February and September 2024.
The women who made those complaints did not testify during the trial. But Castro said the women also described that Perez similarly detained them to ask them inappropriate questions about their dating life.
Perez violated department policies by not activating his body camera during these detainments.
After Perez resigned in December 2024, A.G.’s mother notified the department about the interaction with her daughter a year prior.
Perez resigned after learning he would be terminated following a criminal and internal investigation after another woman, H.S., accused him of sexually assaulting her.
H.S. testified that she encountered Perez while he was on duty in the early hours of Thanksgiving 2024. She was 21 at the time.
H.S. testified she was walking from a bar to her apartment complex, which was about a five-minute walk.
She had had several drinks, she said, and started to feel dizzy and unwell as she arrived at the entrance of her complex. She sat down on the curb.
That’s when officer Perez pulled up in his patrol vehicle, H.S. testified.
He told her his name was Officer Charles, though, she said.
H.S. testified that he made comments about her being intoxicated and insisted on driving her home. She said she told him that wasn’t necessary because her apartment was right there.
H.S. testified that Perez threatened to arrest her for public intoxication if she did not allow him to drive her home.
She got into the patrol vehicle and directed him where to go, she said, but he drove past where she told him to park and went to the rear side of her building.
H.S. testified that he insisted on walking her to her door, too.
When they got to her door, H.S. testified, he asked her for a glass of water. She opened the door, and he followed her inside, she said.
Perez called her beautiful, she testified, and she laughed nervously because she was uncomfortable.
Inside the apartment, H.S. testified, Perez proceeded to assault her.
H.S. testified to the allegation in detail. She appeared visibly distraught as she recounted it, crying, wringing her hands and rocking back and forth.
H.S. testified that she was very intoxicated and in shock. She testified it was not consensual.
The assault stopped, she testified, when a call for service rang out over the officer’s radio.
As he dressed and left the apartment, H.S. testified, Perez repeatedly told her no one needed to know about what happened.
H.S. called her mom and then the police shortly after, she said.
Now-retired Lewisville detective Scott Kelly responded to her apartment and began criminally investigating Perez.
That investigation led Kelly to obtain a warrant for Perez’s arrest for sexual assault.
Gossage remarked earlier in Perez’s trial that the sexual assault case has not been presented to a grand jury for indictment.
Defense attorney Bruce Isaacks argued to the judge that there was nothing in Perez’s interactions with A.G. that he should be punished for.
As for H.S., Isaacks cast doubt on her credibility in his closing arguments to the judge and characterized the sexual interaction as consensual.
The judge heard that Perez was married and a father to a young boy when the stalking and other allegations occurred.
Isaacks argued that stepping out on his marriage was a moral failing, not a criminal one.
Perez’s family members asked the judge to consider giving Perez probation so that he could continue to provide financially and emotionally for his son.
Perez’s ex-wife has custody of the boy, as Perez moved from Denton to San Antonio to live with a family member. He had visitation rights to his son and paid child support.
Isaacks unsuccessfully argued that Perez had already been punished enough by losing his job and family.
The stalking felony conviction, Isaacks argued, would prevent him from being a police officer again, and therefore, there was no reason to imprison him to protect the public.
McFarling took a brief recess to consider all the testimony.
McFarling announced the seven-year sentence, then promptly directed the sheriff’s deputies to escort a stoic Perez out of the courtroom to begin serving his time.