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Athens Man Indicted On Abduction, Rape Charges After Amber Alert
By: Susan Tebben
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ATHENS — An Athens man who triggered a statewide manhunt after he was accused of kidnapping three children has now been indicted on abduction, rape and other felony counts.
Neil M. Perin, 34, was indicted by an Athens County Grand Jury on Monday of three counts of kidnapping, two counts of abduction, two counts of domestic violence and one count each of rape, disrupting public services and receiving stolen property. He is currently being held in the Southeastern Ohio Regional Jail on $500,000 bond, according to jail records.
A warrant was originally released by the Athens Police Department after officers responded to a complaint of domestic violence and abduction at about 9 a.m. on April 25, according to a previous press release by the APD. Athens County Prosecutor Keller Blackburn stated in a release that the charges stem from an incident on April 24, “in which he assaulted his wife and then took three children…left the home and fled to the Cleveland area.”
“The rape charge is due to forcing his wife to have sex with him on multiple occasions after she had been told by a doctor not to engage in sex,” Blackburn stated, adding that the victim told investigators Perin had been abusing her “over a period of time” and forced her to stay in bed.
Perin is also charged with taking the license plate off a vehicle and placing it on his, “in an attempt to make himself harder to locate,” the release stated.
He had been seen in the Cleveland area when the Amber Alert was released, and he was found in the Shaker Heights neighborhood, where he was apprehended by local police.
This is not the first court case in which Perin has been accused of domestic violence. Just two months ago, Perin pleaded guilty to misdemeanor domestic violence in Athens County Municipal Court, and was fined, but given no jail time under the condition that he not commit any crimes in the next two years, and remove firearms from his home within 30 days of the guilty plea. In 2016, Perin was charged with domestic violence in municipal court, but the case was dismissed.
On April 30, court records show Perin was also served divorce papers at the jail.
Community members have been collecting money for the children involved in the case and the children’s mother. Vendors at the Athens Farmer’s Market on April 28 were donating their tips to the family, and a GoFundMe account has reached nearly $5,000 in funds to help the victims.