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Date: 02-28-2023
Case Style:
United States of America v. Robert William Perry II
Case Number: 4:20-cr-00218
Judge: Jack Zouhary
Court: United States District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma (Tulsa County)
Plaintiff's Attorney: United States Attorney’s Office in Tulsa
Defendant's Attorney:
Description: Tulsa, Oklahoma criminal defense lawyer represented Defendant charged with aggravated sexual abuse of a minor in Indian Country and for abusive sexual contact of a minor in Indian Country.
“Robert Perry’s crimes are despicable. The defendant repeatedly abused a 7-year-old girl for whom the defendant was responsible,” said U.S. Attorney Clint Johnson. “This week, the Court made it clear that Perry’s predatory crimes and blame shifting warranted a lifetime in federal prison.”
During the hearing, the judge called Perry’s actions intentional and manipulative. He reflected on the long-term trauma the child would have to live with then noted that protecting children was one of society’s highest duties.
Perry, age 32, sexually abused the minor from May 6, 2017, to May 15, 2018,. Prosecutors contended that Perry would coerce the young child into sex acts then “reward” her with candy, other items, and the opportunity to play video games in what the defendant termed as a “man cave,” a closet where Perry regularly played video games and watched pornography. Most of the abuse occurred in the closet while the child was in the defendant's care. The child eventually told a friend at school about the abuse. Another student overheard the discussion and reported it to her teacher. The teacher had a conversation with the victim, who then disclosed the abuse and wrote about it. The teacher reported the crimes to the Oklahoma Department of Human Services.
In a forensic interview, the young child was initially hesitant to speak about the abuse but indicated that Perry made her keep secrets. She eventually drew a picture of the abuse when she was examined by a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner. She also testified about the abuse at an earlier state trial and at the federal trial in May 2022.
Perry was previously convicted in Tulsa County District Court in 2020, but the conviction was later dismissed because the state lacked jurisdiction to prosecute the case following the Supreme Court’s decision in McGirt v Oklahoma. Perry is a citizen of the Muscogee Nation, and the crimes occurred within the tribe’s reservation. Only the federal government or tribes have jurisdiction to prosecute cases that occur in Indian Country that involve Native American defendants.
The FBI and Tulsa Police Department conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Alex M. Scott and Valeria G. Luster prosecuted the case.
18 USC 1151, 1153, and 2241(c): Aggravated Sexual Abuse of a Minor Under 12 in Indian Country
(1ss)
18 USC 1151, 1153, and 2244(a)(5): Abusive Sexual Contact with a Minor in Indian Country
(2ss)
Outcome: BOP: Life as to counts 1 and 2, to run concurrently; SR: Life as to counts 1 and 2, to run concurrently; SMA: $100 per counts = $200
Plaintiff's Experts:
Defendant's Experts:
Comments: