Aug 30, 2017 2 min read

The preliminary hearing for a Monongahela Township man charged with child rape was postponed after his public defender expressed concerns in court Wednesday about the suspect’s mental health.

Public defender Timothy Ross said that his client, Matthew S. Perry, 39, of 197 Hartley Road, is refusing to bathe and the Greene County jail currently has him on suicide watch. Ross asked for a continuance in the case so that Perry can undergo a mental health evaluation.

“We’ve had nothing but nonverbal communication with him,” Ross told District Judge Lee Watson before the hearing was set to begin.

Perry was charged by state police in early June with rape of a child, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, aggravated indecent assault, indecent assault and corruption of minors after he allegedly raped an 11-year-old girl on several occasions beginning last summer.

Police said the girl told them the assaults occurred while she stayed overnight at Perry’s home. The girl told police that on one occasion Perry raped her in his vehicle in a wooded area, according to court documents.

The girl told police Perry would also tell her how to pose for “provocative” pictures he would take of her on his cell phone and camera, the complaint said. Police said the sexual relationship began last summer and continued through March.

According to a search warrant filed by state police, the girl told them that there may be at least one other victim. According to the warrant, police searched Perry’s residence and found a camera, but did not divulge if they found any evidence on it.

Perry was arrested Aug. 10 by U.S. marshals in Morgantown, W.Va., near a mosque where he had been hiding. Perry’s laptop was confiscated from the mosque, state police wrote in the search warrant.

Perry was arraigned Aug. 22 and is being held at the Greene County jail on $150,000 straight bond. He is expected back in court in about a month.