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Last updated on Wednesday, October 7, 2015
(LINTON) - A Linton man was arrested on 10 felony counts after he allegedly told police he had a secret sexual relationship with a teenage girl for more than two years.
Police arrested 32-year-old Matthew Perry on two counts of child molesting, three counts of sexual misconduct with a minor and five counts of dissemination of matter harmful to minors.
According to court records, the relationship between Perry and the teen started in October 2012, when the girl was 13, and continued until January 2015, when she was 15.
The Greene County Prosecutor's Office and Department of Child Services started their investigation in March after the girl's mother called police when she became aware of the relationship between her daughter and Perry. The mother found drawings and a list of wedding plans including ring designs and prices, future house plans and drawings about love and romance between the two.
Perry was a longtime family friend who had babysat for the girl when she was 13.
In an interview with authorities, the 15-year-old said no one knew about her relationship with Perry because she loved him and didn't want anything to happen to him, such as jail time, the affidavit states.
According to police, both Perry and the girl kept the relationships secret from everyone, including family members and the girl's friends who all told police they knew nothing about the relationship, but knew Perry was always showing up at locations the girl was at, like when they went shopping at Walmart.
The girl and Perry sent more than 24,000 text messages and called each other 696 times from July 1, 2014 to October 24, 2014. Perry also sent the girl five different inappropriate pictures of himself.
During an interview with investigators, Perry denied the allegations of a relationship with the teen.
Perry was booked into the Greene County Jail on Friday. His bond has been set at $145,000 surety or $14,500 cash.
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