Suspect in foot touching charged

Posted at: 07/17/2012 11:55 PM
By: Lynnette Adams | WHEC.com

The suspect who was arrested Tuesday evening in connection with inappropriate sexual contact with two young children at the Penfield Public Library has been charged. Anthony Perri, 49, is facing 2 counts each of first-degree sex abuse, and endangering the welfare of a child.

Police say that library staff alerted police after a mother saw a suspicious man having contact with her daughter's foot. The mother confronted the man and he left the library. Police say they subsequently detained the man nearby. Library director, Bernadette Brinkman, was the one who called the authorities and she says she is glad she did so.

"I'm glad we responded as quickly as we did and something positive was done about it." says Brinkman.

The Sheriff's Office has been investigating other reports of a man approaching young girls in the area, fondling and licking their feet. The first report came from a book store in Pittsford on July 4th. There have been other reports of incidents in Henrietta and Brighton. Investigators say they did interview another man after those incidents. But he is no longer a suspect and they're still trying to determine if Perri is connected to all of those cases.

Court documents accuse Perri of taking shoes off the feet of two girls at the library, fondling their feet and putting their feet to his nose and month.  This is what Perri had to say while leaving court.

"My family was killed here. My uncle was killed here. This is a set up... they had women following me in Wegmans." says Perri.

The judge ordered Perri to jail. The judge did not have the authority to set bail, so he's being held without. He is due back in Penfield Town Court Monday for a preliminary hearing. Court documents say Perri has admitted to the charges.

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