A Royal man serving 20 years in prison after his 2017 conviction for first-degree sexual assault involving a 7-year-old girl was sentenced to an additional eight years in prison Monday after pleading guilty to second-degree sexual assault involving a young boy.
Roy Neil Perry, 54, had pleaded no contest in Garland County Circuit Court on April 24, 2017, to the charge of first-degree sexual assault, which was reduced from an original charge of rape, involving a girl he had reportedly molested repeatedly over a two-year period.
Former Chief Deputy Prosecutor Joe Graham said at the time it was a case where the child claimed it happened and Perry denied it and refused to plead guilty, but agreed to plead no contest because he didn't want to risk going to trial and admitted the state had sufficient evidence to prove the charge.
Appearing in circuit court Monday with Garland County Public Defender Tim Beckham, Perry pleaded guilty to the additional charge of second-degree sexual assault, which was filed June 22, 2018, and was sentenced to eight years with the sentence to run consecutively to the original sentence of 20 years for a total of 28 years.
Perry has remained in custody since his original arrest Dec. 22, 2015, so court costs were expunged for time served.
Deputy Prosecutor Shana Alexander said the two victims were molested around the same time, but it was not immediately discovered that the male victim was also abused by Perry.
"The boy didn't feel comfortable coming forward until he was sure (Perry) was being sent to prison," she said, noting they felt it was important to run the second sentence consecutive "to make sure (the second victim) got justice also."
Beckham said Tuesday Perry was "very cooperative" with the plea process and "wanted to take responsibility for his conduct and get this behind him and let the victim have some closure."
According to the probable cause affidavit for the 2018 charge, on July 20, 2017, the Garland County sheriff's office received a report of allegations of sexual abuse involving a 10-year-old boy who said the incidents occurred when he was 8 or 9 and involved a known suspect, identified as Perry.
The victim had been interviewed May 8, 2017, at the Cooper-Anthony Mercy Child Advocacy Center in Hot Springs and stated two or three years earlier he had been in Perry's room when Perry molested him. The victim said it only happened once and "Roy is in jail now."
On June 16, 2017, Perry was interviewed by Arkansas State Police and denied the allegation. Sheriff's Investigator Jennifer Tonseth reviewed the reports and noted the male victim was related to the female victim from the earlier case.
According to the affidavit from the original charge, on June 11, 2015, a report was received by the Arkansas State Police Child Abuse Hotline that alleged a 9-year-old girl had been sexually abused by a known suspect.
The victim was subsequently interviewed at Cooper-Anthony and disclosed she had been repeatedly molested by Perry since she was 7 years old. The incidents all reportedly occurred while she was at Perry's former residence in Pearcy.
On June 19, 2015, Perry was questioned by sheriff's investigators and admitted to being alone with the victim from time to time, but denied the allegations of rape or sexual contact.
A warrant was later issued for Perry's arrest and he was taken into custody.