Alleged Foot Fondler Back in Court
By: Ashley Zilka
Updated: July 23, 2012
A judge has ordered a mental examination for the man accused of fondling the feet of two young girls at the Penfield Town Library.
On Monday, Anthony Perri was back in court, and as he did on the day of his arrest last week, he made wild claims and accusations.
Perri told the judge he wanted to represent himself because he trusts the district attorney more than his own attorney. He claimed the RPD, FBI and the United States are plotting against him, but he apparently does not want anyone's help.
Once inside, he told the court he doesn't think it's rocket science to serve as his own counsel. Perri said he studied psychology for a year at Mercy College and is more than capable of representing himself.
He said he believes his public defender cannot be trusted and will "bury" him.
Perri was arrested last Tuesday. Investigators say he touched the feet of two young girls in the children's section of the Penfield Public Library. They say it was for the purposes of sexual gratification.
"The sex abuse is one in which we are talking about intimate parts of the body. He did make reference in court to feet. I think it's safe to say that the focus will be on the attention that he paid to the feet of the victims who are under eleven," said Bill Gargan, Assistant District Attorney.
Perri was denied bail based upon two prior felonies. He pleaded guilty to assault in the first degree in 1982 and attempted murder in 1988. On Monday, he spent several minutes going into detail about his criminal history.
Prosecutors would not comment about those cases.
"He did a pretty good job at talking about that in court. About several different ones. One was an assault and one was a robbery. Records do indicate perhaps a different one as well, but he did go about them at length in court," said Gargan.
Perri said police have set him up, making the bizarre claim that they had hundreds of women and children follow him into Wegmans.
"Unusual I think for any prosecutor in the country, and I say that given the length at which he was able to speak regarding his thoughts, so I do think, that is unusual," said Gargan.
The case will now move to county or supreme court. After the mental exam is complete, it will be decided if Perri can represent himself.
