SALEM, Mass. – A man who was released from prison 30 years after reportedly being wrongfully convicted of rape is now facing charges of a new criminal sex act.
Reports say that on Monday, 50-year-old George Perrot pleaded not guilty to charges of sexually assaulting an unconscious woman on a sidewalk in Lawrence, Massachusetts back in January.
He was held in custody without bail after a hearing in Essex Superior Court on Monday.
Perrot was convicted of raping 78-year-old Mary Prekop back in 1985. His conviction was largely determined based off of a strand of hair that was found in Prekop’s home. Perrot served over 30 years for the crime before a judge released him in 2016 after an FBI agent testified that the hair evidence had been ‘flawed.’
The judge who released Perrot said he was ‘reasonably sure’ that Perrot did not commit the rape against Prekop. The victim had noted on multiple occasions that the assailant who severely beat and raped her had not had facial hair, while at the time of the act, Perrot had a full beard and mustache.
The charges were formally dropped against Perrot in 2017.
Mass. man, freed from prison after serving 3 decades for a rape he says he did not commit, pleaded not guilty Monday to new rape charges. https://t.co/fH3fdFdaLk
— NBC News (@NBCNews) May 7, 2019
Following Perrot’s release, he said in an email that he was now ‘truly free.’ But as he tried to reintegrate into the community, he was reportedly having trouble.
Defense Attorney Thomas Torrisi said his client had “no direction” after he was released from prison and “fell into what would be expected, a life of living on the street, of drugs and alcohol.”
According to a report from NBC, Hampden District Attorney Anthony Gulluni, the office that prosecuted Perrot’s 1985 trial, said they continue to “maintain the position that George Perrot committed several heinous offenses of elderly female victims.”
“Regrettably, there is another victim who has now allegedly suffered at his hands three decades later,” Gullini said.
Perrot maintains his innocence in both crimes. His lawyer says that his faith in the judicial system is thin.
“I certainly could not blame him for his distrust, distrust of the system. It has not treated him well,” Torrisi told reporters. “Again, this case will be decided on these facts and these facts only what happened to him, you know, before is, is an absolute shame, but will have no bearing on, on how this case is ultimately resolved.”
Another hearing is set for June.
