Woman reporting theft gets sexually assaulted by responding deputy, FL cops say
A woman in Florida was victimized twice in one day when she reported a crime and the responding deputy demanded to see her breasts, according to investigators.
It happened June 18 at a home in Orange Park, and the deputy is accused of sexually assaulting the woman in the minutes that followed, the Clay County Sheriff’s Office said in a June 27 news release.
“A female victim called the Clay County Sheriff’s Office to report a theft. ... While the deputies were at the victim’s residence, one of the deputies, later identified as Ryan Perry, followed the victim upstairs to her bedroom,” the sheriff’s office said.
“While Perry and the victim were in the bedroom alone, Perry demanded that the victim expose her breasts to him and he then inappropriately touched the victim, against her will, in a manner that completed the offense of sexual battery.”
The incident was reported to the sheriff’s office on June 21, resulting in an investigation that led to Perry being arrested June 27 and charged with armed sexual battery, the sheriff’s office said.
He was fired at the time of his arrest, officials said.
Perry had been with the department since October 2018 and two previous citizen complaints were lodged against him, officials said. One “was sustained” and the other proved to be “unfounded,” officials said. Details of the complaints were not released.
“I want to speak directly to any citizen of Clay County who has ever been through the burdens and trauma of a sexual assault. We hear you, we stand with you, and we will fight for you,” Clay County Sheriff Michelle Cook said in the news release.
“I could not be more disappointed to have to share this news. ... It is devastating to us an agency and to me personally. I can assure you that we will follow through on this and justice will be served.”
Orange Park is about a 20-mile drive south from Jacksonville.
This story was originally published June 30, 2025 at 6:59 AM with the headline "Woman reporting theft gets sexually assaulted by responding deputy, FL cops say."