KING COUNTY, Wash. — A year ago, alleged victims pleaded with a King County judge to keep Perry Strom in jail after he was charged with rape, now he’s back in custody.
Last February, a judge granted Strom a $125K bond. This time he’s been booked on new child sex abuse charges.
Strom didn’t come to the courtroom for his first appearance Friday, but his defense attorney asked to set bail at $10K. Prosecutors asked for $500K. The judge granted the prosecutor’s request, but even the judge seemed to think it should be higher.
“Frankly I’m surprised that the state’s bail is only $500K,” said the presiding judge.
Strom was booked Thursday night on 12 felonies, all involving sexually abusing or raping a child.
“He is denying the allegations,” said Strom’s defense attorney. “I’d like to also point out the matter is 2 years old, so I believe the incident occurred in 2022.”
“So, if he was such a danger to the community here why didn’t they diligently investigate and get him apprehended quicker than this, it’s 2024 now,” the attorney continued.
This is now the fourth open case in King County against Strom. Two of the other three involve sexual abuse as well. In the third open case, a previous victim who’s pushed to keep him in custody alleged he called and threatened to kill her roommate.
“To bash in my roommate’s teeth in October and then we see he has 12 felony charges for commercial sex abuse of a minor, rape, and sex with a minor,” said Jazmin Peerson. “That’s absurd this is just disgusting.”
Strom was convicted of stalking Jazmin and served a 20-day sentence. She and other alleged victims pleaded with a judge last February to not lower his $125K bail, or even grant him bail in the open rape case. The judge didn’t lower the number, but Strom still made bond.
Jazmin says she checks the King County Jail roster daily and saw Strom’s name last night.
“I don’t understand how he is able to continue to get bail as an offer, post bail and not face any repercussions,” said Peerson. “It’s hard in our society, even though we live in a very progressive state knowing at the end of the day women are not heard women are not believed.”
While Strom was booked in the King County jail on twelve felonies, he’s being charged with six.
It’s three counts each of Communicating with a Minor for Immoral Purposes and Commercial Sex Abuse of a Minor. On top of the $500K bail, Strom has a sexual assault protection order, no contact with minors, he’s not allowed on social media, and he can’t use electronic devices without monitoring software.
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