Religious mentor jailed for child rape
Prosecutor: ‘This was cold and this was sick’
NORRISTOWN >> Saying a Pottstown man robbed teenage boys of their innocence under the guise of being their religious mentor, a judge sent him to prison for manipulating the boys into performing sexual acts.
“You groomed these kids. You violated their purity as young men. You have taken away their innocence. This insatiable perversion, wherever it came from, you have no control over it,” Montgomery County Judge Gary S. Silow addressed admitted sex offender Derrick James Perkins on Thursday. “You, sir, have created a great deal of pain and sorrow for so many people.”
Prosecutors and detectives alleged Perkins, 46, utilized so-called “deliverance sessions,” lectures about “demons” and beatings to manipulate the boys into performing sexual acts.
“All four victims speak of ‘deliverance sessions’ and the need to be good Christians. Perkins used the wanting of these four victims to be devoted Christians against them. He turned
“At one point he seemed like something good in my life. Then I realized he wasn’t there to help me. I realized I was a target for his abuse.” — Victim of sexual assault
the sacred place of God and church to coerce these four victims into his sexual assaults,” Pottstown Detective Heather Long wrote in the arrest affidavit.
Perkins, formerly of East Fifth Street in Pottstown and most recently of Fallsburg, N.Y., pleaded guilty to
two counts each of rape of a child and indecent assault of a child, as well as indecent exposure, in connection with sexual or indecent contact he had with four boys between the ages of 13 and 18 while they were in his company at various times and locations in Pottstown and Blue Bell between 2004 and 2008.
Silow sentenced Perkins, whose ministry was known as “Tears of Joy,” to 12 to 40 years in state prison, to
be followed by nine years of probation, during an emotion-filled hearing at which two of the four deeply religious young men who were victimized by Perkins courageously and eloquently confronted their abuser in court.
“There was physical abuse and there was mental abuse,” one man, now 30, testified, adding Perkins came into his life when he was 16 and struggling in school and needed a father figure. “At
one point he seemed like something good in my life. Then I realized he wasn’t there to help me. I realized I was a target for his abuse.”
The young man testified as a teen he made a choice to be celibate until marriage.
“He used that to manipulate me and violated the purity I was committed to,” the young man said.
Prosecutors and detectives alleged Perkins forced himself on the boys “through religion and fear.”
“Once Perkins gained the trust of the four victims he transitioned the deliverance sessions from emotional talking into sexual assaults,” Long wrote in the arrest affidavit, adding the improper contact included various sexual acts, inappropriate touching and physical abuse.
The victims, according to court papers, told authorities Perkins became a controlling figure in their lives and that they were physically abused by Perkins and were afraid of him. Authorities alleged Perkins targeted teenagers from broken homes who had no father figures.
“None of the victims wanted to do any of these sexual acts with Perkins, they only did so because he manipulated them into thinking it was a ‘normal’ part of their religion and the only way to be delivered from demons to become a good Christian,” Long alleged.
A second young man’s emotional testimony about trying to cling to his faith amidst the abuse brought several courtroom spectators to tears.
“He blatantly disrespected my religion. Depression is a real thing. I used to cry every day. Now I have tears of joy because I realize he can’t hurt anyone else,” the man said. “I am more angry that he defiled his relationship with God. That’s not what a Christian does.”
Authorities said the victims described Perkins “as using the word of the Lord
through deliverance to obtain the sexual assault he wanted to take place on any given day.”
One victim told detectives Perkins forced him to cover himself with “anointing oil in the name of the Lord” during the sexual contact.
“Perkins convinced (the victim) that his normal sexual teenage experiences were that of the enemy or the devil and he needed deliverance,” Long alleged.
Assistant District Attorney Kristen Feden vehemently argued for the lengthy prison sentence against Perkins, claiming he manipulated the boys’ vulnerabilities for his own sexual desires under the guise of mentoring them in their Christian development.
“This was planned. This was calculated. This was cold and this was sick. This was all to perpetuate his sexual pleasures and he used the name of God to do it,” Feden argued. “The victims were left broken. They were left traumatized.”
The judge, obviously moved by the victims’ testimony, addressed them directly.
“You have nothing to be ashamed of. Today, you’ve demonstrated to me how brave you both are,” Silow said. “It must shake your faith to some degree. You have to be strong and you’ve demonstrated to me that you are. I am amazed by your honesty and strength.”
Relatives of the young men testified they once believed Perkins was “a gifted man of God” but they learned he used “his intellect and mind control” to manipulate the victims. The relatives comforted the emotional victims in court and while disappointed and hurt they remained committed to their faith. Addressing the families, the judge added, “I’m very much uplifted by your spirit.”
Perkins, who was supported in court by his mother
and several other relatives, did not look at the young men as they confronted him in court. But later he issued an apology to the victims and their families, claiming he was abused in his past.
“It was not planned. I was sick,” said Perkins, challenging allegations he groomed the young men. “I am truly, truly sorry.”
Defense lawyer Keith Harbison, hoping for a lesser sentence, argued Perkins is remorseful, took responsibility for his conduct and didn’t force a trial, thus saving the victims from testifying.
“His goal was to minimize the pain,” Harbison said.
The investigation began in January 2014, when one of the victims, then an adult, revealed Perkins’ abuse to authorities. The investigation quickly uncovered three additional victims.
One victim, who was sexually abused from ages 13 to 17, told authorities Perkins forced him to perform and to submit to sexual acts and threatened to kill the victim’s mother if he told anyone about the incidents, according to court papers.
Another victim, who was sexually assaulted when he was 16, told authorities Perkins recited Scripture to convince him to submit to Perkins’ sexual advances, according to court documents.
A third victim, who was 15 when he was sexually abused by Perkins, told detectives when he told Perkins he didn’t appreciate the sexual assaults, Perkins responded, “This is God’s love that God gives me to give to you,” according to the criminal complaint.
Court officials determined Perkins does meet criteria to be classified as a sexually violent predator. As a result, Perkins will have to report his address to state police for the rest of his life and police will notify the community in which Perkins chooses to live once he’s released from prison.