Oklahoma man who received life sentence for serial sexual abuse of 7-year-old stepdaughter to seek rehearing

An Oklahoma man identifying as a woman and serving a life sentence for the repeated sexual abuse of his 7-year-old stepdaughter will reportedly seek a rehearing in the case.

Robert William Perry II was first convicted for the aggravated sexual abuse of a minor in Indian Country in 2020. Court transcripts indicate he would ply his stepdaughter with candy, toys and the opportunity to play video games in his “man cave” in exchange for sexual favors.

The man cave was apparently just a closet where Perry would watch pornography, play video games and smoke. His alleged abuses occurred in 2017 and 2018, when his stepdaughter was just 7, on the Muskogee Nation reserve in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

The fact the abuses occurred on the Muskogee reservation complicated the prosecution. While the state of Oklahoma originally tried and convicted him in 2020, that ruling was thrown out on appeal because the state technically has no jurisdiction over crimes committed on tribal reservations by Native Americans.

However, the case was then given over to the U.S. Department of Justice and Perry was subsequently convicted in federal court. He was sentenced to life in federal prison in January 2023. 

Perry’s defense team filed an appeal of his conviction earlier this year arguing the prosecution’s comments in the trial improperly led the jury to favor the victim’s testimony. 

“The government’s Answer Brief argues there was overwhelming evidence to convict. There was not. Instead, the case rose or fell based on [the victim’s] credibility versus Perry’s credibility. If the jury believed [the child], it could convict. If it believed Perry, it could not,” Perry’s attorney wrote in the appeal.” 

On Dec. 5, the United States Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected that argument, upholding the conviction. 

In his judgement, Judge Joel Carson III said the prosecution’s comments did not make the trial “fundamentally unfair.” 

Perry’s attorney responded by filing an intent to petition the court for a rehearing in the case, and requested until Jan. 16 to complete the filing. 

Perry’s abuses were initially discovered when his stepdaughter told a schoolmate about them. Another student who overheard the conversation alerted a teacher. That teacher then alerted the school’s principal who reportedly dismissed the allegations as “gossip.” However, the teacher continued to advocate for the child and had a conversation with her the next school day. 

During that conversation, the child reluctantly admitted to, and wrote the details of the abuses out for the teacher, even drawing pictures. The teacher then alerted the school’s counselor who contacted the Oklahoma Department of Human Services. The assigned Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner met with the child and reported the allegations to the police, who brought charges in 2018. 

The school principal who reportedly failed to act to protect the student, K. Jene Carpenter, is still listed as Patrick Henry Elementary School’s principal. 

Court records say Perry admitted to several “untreated psychiatric conditions” including a pornography addiction which included “transsexual” materials. He also told the court he identified as female and used “she/her” pronouns, a fact that further complicated the case as the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) revised its transgender guidelines in January 2022 under the Biden Administration, prior to Perry’s sentencing. 

The revised guidelines reinstated Obama-era rules requiring federal inmates to be housed in prisons based on their gender identity versus biological sex. Under the Trump Administration, inmates were housed based solely on their biological sex. 

Perry is currently locked up at USP Terre Haute, which is a men’s prison. However, under current BOP rules, he is eligible to request housing based on his gender identity. In the original sentencing order, the judge requested Perry be accommodated in a facility where he can access “gender-affirming” care. 

Highlighting the complexity of the issue, Reddux reports there are approximately 1,500 transgender inmates currently held in federal prisons. And, almost 50% of the biological males identifying as women in federal prisons are in custody for sex crimes, compared to 11% of the biological males in federal custody who do not identify as transgender.