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Morris Jurors Convict Ex-Martial Arts School Owner Of Molesting Girl, Third Case In 5 Years

Jurors in Morristown convicted the former owner of a defunct martial arts school on Friday of molesting an 11-year-old girl – the third such case that he’d been involved in over a five-year span.

Morris County Courthouse

Morris County Courthouse

Photo Credit: morriscountynj.gov

Richard Perry, 48, was ordered held in the Morris County Correctional Facility pending a Jan. 17 sentencing after jurors found him guilty of sexual assault and child endangerment.

The Jamaican-born Perry, who is not a U.S. citizen, will have to serve 85% of his sentence under the No Early Release Act, must register under Megan’s Law and remain under parole supervision for life – after which he most likely will be deported.

He previously owned Master Perry's World Class Martial Arts on Union Avenue in Belleville.

Jurors agreed after the trial that Perry touched the girl on her breasts and vagina during an October 2016 sleepover at his home in the Oak Ridge section of Jefferson Township.

The girl immediately told her aunt, who called police, prosecutors said.

Five years earlier, in 2011, Perry was accused of sexually assaulting a 9-year-old girl. Charges were downgraded as part of a plea deal that resulted in a fine, records show.

Two months after his October 2016 arrest, he was charged with previously fondling a 13-year-old girl in Belleville. Perry pleaded guilty to criminal sexual conduct in Superior Court in Newark and was sentenced to 364 days in jail and four years probation, records show.

Morris County Prosecutor Fredric M. Knapp thanked Jefferson Township police and his own Sex Crimes/Child Endangerment Unit for their work in the Oak Ridge case, which was handled by Assistant Prosecutors Reema Sethi Kareer and Jessica Sparano assisted by Detectives Michael Bost and Melissa Enslen and Victim Advocate Amanda Holloway.

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