Greene County man sentenced to prison for raping girl
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Relatives of the girl who was raped by Matthew S. Perry told him before his sentencing Monday in Greene County Court that his actions have forever changed her from a happy child to one who is struggling with anguish from the sexual abuse.
鈥淚 see a young lady who鈥檚 been through the worst things you could imagine. This girl is troubled every day,鈥� a male relative said during a victim impact statement before sentencing. 鈥淐hildren are precious, but that little girl didn鈥檛 get to feel precious. 鈥� This can never be given back, ever.鈥�
Perry, 43, of Monongahela Township, was charged in June 2017 and accused of sexually assaulting the preteen girl on several occasions between the summer of 2016 and March 2017. A Greene County jury convicted Perry following a two-day trial in December on charges of rape, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with a child, indecent assault and corruption of minors.
The girl, who is now 16, did not attend the sentencing hearing for Perry, but two relatives spoke about how the abuse has affected her. A female relative said that before the abuse, the girl was having a normal childhood, but afterward she began getting into trouble at school and eventually ran away from home. Later, she was hospitalized for mental health issues as she 鈥渃rumbled鈥� just before Perry鈥檚 trial.
鈥淭his young lady is covered in scars,鈥� the woman said.
President Judge Lou Dayich sentenced Perry to serve 40 to 80 years in prison in what ultimately could be a life sentence. Dayich also ordered Perry to register as a sex offender with the state police鈥檚 Megan鈥檚 Law list for the rest of his life.
When Dayich asked Perry if he wished to address the court, the convicted man said he was told not to on the advice of his public defender Harry Cancelmi.
鈥淗e said no,鈥� Perry told the judge, alluding to Cancelmi鈥檚 advice not to speak.
Perry is still awaiting trial on thousands of additional charges in a separate case in which he is accused of molesting a different girl. State police charged him in October 2020 with nearly 15,000 separate counts for the alleged ongoing abuse of that girl dating back to 2008.
Perry has been jailed since he was arrested in Morgantown, W.Va., in August 2017, nearly three months after state police filed charges in the original case. It took more than four years for Perry to go to trial after he was originally deemed incompetent to face the charges and was admitted for mental health treatment on three separate occasions at Torrance State Hospital near Blairsville.
He will serve his sentence at a state prison that will be determined at a later date, although he is expected to remain at the Greene County jail while awaiting the adjudication of the second case.
His wife, Cheyenna Perry, 39, pleaded guilty in December 2018 to recording videos and taking photographs of a girl engaged in sexual acts, and then sending them to her husband while he was trying to evade capture in the summer of 2017. She was sentenced to serve 3陆 to 7 years in state prison and ordered to register for life as a sex offender after she pleaded guilty to all charges in exchange for her cooperation in her husband鈥檚 case. She is serving her sentence at SCI-Muncy prison in Lycoming County.