Gleason Man Charged with Rape of a Child, Incest & Sexual Battery by Authority Figure

By: Shannon Taylor

Editor

Nicholas Perry

On Feb. 9, Investigator Rodney Wright with the Weakley County Sheriff’s Department received a Department of Children’s Services referral alleging sex abuse and lack of supervision of a 10-year-old female child. Wright, along with DCS Investigator Mechelle Porter, interviewed the child at Gleason School, according to court records. Investigators from the Sheriff's Office and D.C.S. began an investigation that led to information substantiating the allegation against Mr. Perry.

During the summer months of 2023, Nicholas Grayam Perry, 39, raped his adopted daughter, according to a court affidavit. The child stated that she hit him and ran away, telling her mother, Laurenda (Laura) Perry, who did not believe the child at first, but at some point after, the child told on Perry. Court records show Laurenda made Perry apologize to her daughter and to her sister for what he had done and made him promise to never do it again. Perry is the paternal uncle of the child, but had adopted her, constituting the offense of incest.

Additionally, on Feb. 23, Wright met with a 17-year-old juvenile and her father on a previous complaint of sex abuse that was reported to DCS and the WCSD in Sept. 2021. Wright had discovered that the complaint was inactive. Weakley County Sheriff Terry McDade said that the reasoning behind the complaint being inactive was due to the juvenile not wanting to testify at the time, however, now that she is 17, she is willing to testify. At the time of the investigation, it appeared there was no prosecution due to the evidence not meeting the thresh hold felt necessary to have a successful prosecution, according to McDade.

The complaint stated that on Sept. 28, 2021, a forensic interview with Carl Perkins Center stated that sometime during the summer of 2020 when the juvenile was 14 years old, she was awakened on the couch of Perry’s home where she was staying with her friend, and Perry had penetrated her digitally. Perry would touch her and the juvenile yelled at him to stop four to five times constituting a charge of Sexual Battery by an Authority Figure. The juvenile’s father was informed of the situation, which resulted in the juvenile not going back to the home.

Upon further investigation, a previous complaint as discovered from 2021 that alleged sexual abuse by Mr. Perry against another minor child. That case was investigated by Weakley County Sheriff's Office and the Department of Children's Services as well back in 2021.

McDade directed Investigators to look into the complaint filed in 2021, as well as the new allegations. Investigators were able to re-interview witnesses along with the original interviews and with the new information obtained, were able to obtain arrest warrants for Nicholas Perry for 1 count of Rape, 1 count of Incest, 1 count of Rape of a child, and 1 count of Sexual Battery by an Authority Figure.

Nicholas and Laura have eight children, seven girls and one boy, in their care that are either adopted or fostered, all but one who is the biological daughter of the two, according to two anonymous sources.

One source stated that Laura worked in the Weakley County School System at one point and an article posted on WCS’s website dated Aug. 31, 2020, titled “Covid Can’t Curb Caring,” Laura was mentioned as one of “83 staff members who play a part in Weakley County Schools Special Education program.” Laura is not currently employed by the school system according to Director of Weakley County Schools Jeff Cupples. A records request has been submitted to the school system for further details on her previous employment and the results should be forthcoming.

Nicholas Perry was charged with Rape, Sexual Battery by an Authority Figure, Rape of a Child and Incest. Laura has not been charged with a crime. Mr. Perry was arrested without incident on February 29, 2024 at his home and booked into the Weakley County Jail with a $100,000.00 bond.

McDade stated that it is still a possibility that there will be more charges against Nicholas were forthcoming, along with more victims coming forward.

Laurenda has been charged with child abuse/neglect/endangerment as of Feb. 29 and a warrant was issued for her arrest, however she has not been picked up yet.

Perry’s preliminary hearing is set for Wednesday, March 6 at 8:30 a.m. in Weakley County General Sessions Court.

The Weakley County Sheriff's Office is extremely proud of the bravery these young victims have displayed by speaking out against the crimes committed against them!

If you know of children who you suspect is the victim of physical or sexual abuse or neglect, please call your local Sheriff's Office or call

Tn. Department of Children's Services at 1-877-237-0004 or you can report the abuse online at Tn.Gov

The investigation of this case is an ongoing investigation.

This is a developing story. Be sure to follow the Dresden Enterprise on Facebook as more details related to this case unfold.