Portales, NM – Ninth Judicial District Attorney, Quentin Ray, announced that on September 7, 2023, Jon E. Perry, age 53, of Roswell, was sentenced to 18 months in the Department of Corrections after being found guilty by a Roosevelt County Jury of Criminal Sexual Penetration a 3rd degree felony on June 14, 2023.
Charged were filed against Perry, who once held a New Mexico license as a physician assistant, when law enforcement became aware that he had made sexual advances on a patient. The patient, who had been receiving mental health treatment at the Eastern New Mexico Sunrise Mental Health Center, was under Perry’s care. Perry continued to manipulate the victim over the course of several months. In September of 2020, Perry traveled to Portales, NM and had sex with the woman at her work.
The New Mexico State Police in cooperation with the Roswell Police Department and Portales Police Department investigated the case.
New Mexico law prohibits a provider of psychotherapy from having sexual relations with a current patient or a person who has been a patient during the prior year.
The Honorable Judge Mowrer presided over the sentencing hearing and sentenced Perry to eighteen months in the Department of Corrections followed by no less than 5 years and up to his natural life on Parole. In addition, Perry will have to register as a sex offender for the remainder of his life.
The case was prosecuted by Deputy District Attorney, Brian Scott Stover. Perry was represented by Criminal Defense Attorney, Chris Christensen of Portales.
For more information, please contact the Office of the District Attorney, at 575-769-2246.
