OTTAWA — A former industrial arts teacher at Continental schools will spend the rest of his life behind bars.
Putnam County Common Pleas Court Judge Randall Basinger on Monday ordered Jeffrey L. Perry, 55, to serve three consecutive life sentences after Perry pleaded guilty in January to three counts of rape, with specifications the victim was under 13 and Perry used force or the threat of force. Assistant Prosecutor Todd Schroeder said Perry will not be eligible for parole for 75 years.
The local case against Perry developed after an FBI investigation into the distribution of child pornography implicated him. Perry is facing a federal child pornography-related charge in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio in Toledo.
“Clearly the first indictment indicates his conduct was egregious as it relates to child pornography and his purient interest in child pornography and abusing children sexually. He did plead to three charges and the result is he will serve the rest of his natural life in custody,” Schroeder said. “This is a good result for two reasons. The first is that it will forever protect the community because he will not be a part of the community because he will be incarcerated until his death.
“It is also a good result because these charges in terms of the sex abuse involve acts that occured when the victim was a child and it is always difficult for a victim to come to court and testify and go through the process. His plea of guilty and subsequent sentence means the victim will not have to endure that process which I believe to be important.”
The victim was a boy student who was between the ages of 6 and 14 years old at the time of the crimes. According to the indictment, the crimes took place between 1995 and 2011.
Schroeder said additional child pornography-related charges were dismissed in exchange for Perry’s guilty pleas to the more serious rape charges.
According to federal court records, Perry is set to change his plea to the federal charge next week.
