HOT SPRINGS -- A Royal man originally charged with rape was sentenced to 20 years in prison Monday on a reduced charge of first-degree sexual assault involving a 7-year-old girl over a period of two years.
Roy Neil Perry, 52, pleaded no contest to the amended charge April 10 but was formally sentenced Monday in Garland County Circuit Court. He had been scheduled to stand trial April 11 on the original rape charge.
Court costs and fees were expunged for time served since Perry was arrested Dec. 22, 2015, and initially held in lieu of $50,000 bond. Judge John Homer Wright also issued an order permanently barring Perry from any contact with the victim.
In his plea, Perry indicated the state had sufficient evidence to prove the charge.
Chief deputy prosecutor Joe Graham said Monday that it was a case where the child claimed it happened and Perry denied it and refused to plead guilty, but he agreed to plead no contest because he didn't want to risk going to trial.
"It would have been a difficult case," Graham said.
Graham said he visited with the victim's grandmother, who is her guardian, and discussed the negotiations. The grandmother agreed to the plea offer as long as Perry would serve at least five years in prison.
Graham said that, under the sentencing guidelines, Perry will have to serve five years or longer before he is eligible for parole.
According to the affidavit, a report was forwarded June 11, 2015, to the Garland County sheriff's office from the Arkansas State Police Child Abuse Hotline that said a 9-year-old girl had been sexually abused by a known suspect.
The victim was subsequently interviewed at Cooper-Anthony Mercy Child Advocacy Center by forensic interviewer Tracy Childress and reportedly disclosed she had been repeatedly molested by Perry since she was 7 years old.
The incidents reportedly occurred while she was at Perry's then-residence in Pearcy.
State Desk on 04/27/2017