BuzzFeed reports that John Perry, who co-wrote two books with Mike Huckabee, was accused of child molestation in a pair of separate lawsuits.
“The alleged sexual battery was reported to have occurred when the victim was between the ages of 11 and 14,” the Nashville police department wrote in a statement to BuzzFeed.
Perry co-wrote “Do the Right Thing: Inside the Movement That’s Bringing Common Sense Back to America” and “Character is the Issue” with Huckabee, as well as numerous other titles co-authored with evangelical conservatives. .
The alleged molestation was apparently referenced multiple times in a sworn affidavit submitted by his ex-wife during Perry’s divorce proceeding.
A separate series of lawsuits regarding the same alleged molestation involves claims by a former parishioner of Covenant Presbyterian Church in Nashville that the church covered up Perry’s alleged misconduct. In a sworn affidavit, the parishioner stated that the accuser told him she had been molested between the ages of 11 and 13. As part of the lawsuit, the parishioner presented minutes from a church meeting allegedly showing that Perry was excommunicated after he “confessed to committing heinous and repetitive sin […] and has not shown evidence of repentance.”
The Nashville Police Department investigated the allegations in 2012. From the department’s statement to Buzzfeed:
As a result of the investigation, the allegations of sexual battery were sustained, but it was determined that the statute of limitations had tolled, barring prosecution. The victim was age 18 when she first disclosed the allegations to non-law enforcement and said at that time she did not want the matter reported to the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services or the police.
