Facing allegations of serial sexual misconduct against women who work for the tribe, former Choctaw Nation Tribal Council member Ron Perry was charged April 1 with six counts of sexual battery in Choctaw Nation District Court.
Perry, 73, was reelected to the District 5 seat on the Choctaw Nation Tribal Council seat in 2023 after first being elected in 2011. The Choctaw Nation announced that Perry had stepped down April 1, but no reason was offered for his resignation at the time, and many on Facebook celebrated it as a “retirement.”
Perry frequently harassed the six victims, according to court documents (embedded below). The women, who are listed as “Victims 1-6” in the probable cause affidavit filed by Lighthorse Police investigator Alena Brant, had their breasts, genitals and buttocks touched and fondled by Perry while working. The identities of the women were redacted in the documents, which the court recently made public at their request.
“The Choctaw Nation is dedicated to providing a safe environment in which all members of our community can work without fear or threat of harassment, and we take these types of allegations seriously,” said Choctaw Nation senior executive officer John Hobbs. “This case is currently moving through our judicial system, so we are unable to comment further.”
Victims describe serial harassment, battery
Described in the affidavit as “Victim 1,” the first woman interviewed by Brant told investigators Perry grabbed her buttocks while she was in his office in March when she stepped off a scale after weighing herself. The woman told investigators Perry picked her up and asked her how much she weighed before grabbing her buttocks. The woman said she pushed Perry away and told him not to do that again.
Victim 2 told investigators Perry tried to lift her dress. The woman said she “punched him in the belly and told him ‘don’t do that,'” to which Perry laughed. Later the same day, she said Perry tried pulling up her dress a second time.
A third woman said that, around Christmas 2023, she was on the phone when Perry put his hand down her shirt and into her bra. Because she was on a phone call, the woman mouthed for Perry to stop. In February, the woman said Perry again put his hand down her shirt and then caressed her thigh area.
Perry allegedly repeated similar behavior with a fourth woman, who reported that Perry put his hand down her shirt while she was on the phone in 2024 and several more times thereafter. The woman said Perry had also tried to put his hands up her dress and grabbed her buttocks at least three or four times. She stopped wearing dresses to work because of his behavior towards her, the woman told investigators.
A fifth woman told investigators Perry came into her office four to six times a day “grabbing on her.” Sometimes that would include squeezing her buttocks or slapping them. He also asked the woman for pictures of herself and frequently talked about her body. In a separate incident, the woman said Perry came into her office and ran his fingers across her vaginal area. The woman said Perry also ran a finger up the crack of her buttocks on at least one occasion. The woman said Perry called the unwanted touching “his daily feel.”
The sixth woman listed in court documents told investigators that Perry grabbed her buttocks while she was working at the Stigler Community Center.
According to Brant, Perry admitted to investigators that he had grabbed the first woman’s buttocks on at least one occasion. Perry said that he “just jabbed her ass” with his thumb. Perry said the woman said she couldn’t believe he did that when the incident happened. Perry said in response, “It looked so tempting, I couldn’t resist,” according to court documents.
Perry initially denied that he tried to lift the second woman’s dress, according to Brant. Questioned further, he admitted that he did so, but he claimed he was only joking. Perry also told investigators he sometimes gave one of the women $100 when she was short on money. Perry said “he probably has” when asked if he had grabbed the buttocks of other women.
Each count of sexual battery carries with it a potential three-year prison sentence and up to a $5,000 fine. Tribal courts are limited by federal law to a maximum sentence of three years per charge and can stack charges up to a nine-year sentence.
One woman is a member of the Cherokee Nation, while the others are Choctaw citizens, according to court documents.
Seven candidates have filed to run for Perry’s District 5 post since his resignation.
A call to an attorney believed to represent Ron Perry was not returned prior to the publication of this article.
Read the Ron Perry charging documents
