Rittman man pleads guilty to rape of child

WOOSTER — A Rittman man on Tuesday pleaded guilty to sexually abusing a juvenile female relative between 2012 and 2014, when the girl was 8 and 9 years old.

Daniel Perdue, 32, of South 1st Street, pleaded guilty to one count of rape, a first-degree felony. In exchange for his guilty plea, prosecutors dismissed 11 additional counts against Perdue, including three other rape charges and four counts each of sexual battery and gross sexual imposition.

Perdue now faces a maximum 15 years to life, or life without parole, in prison, and up to a $20,000 fine. He is scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 9 at 3 p.m. in the Wayne County Court of Common Pleas.

Rittman police arrested Perdue on Oct. 4 after he came into the police station and turned himself in, Police Chief Ray Arcuri said.

Arcuri said Perdue “came to the station on his own around 7 p.m. and reported he wanted to confess something.”

“We were not investigating it. He was not on our radar,” before Perdue came to the station, Arcuri said. Arcuri added that the situation was unusual because police were not aware of the allegations before Perdue presented himself to police.

Reporter Jack Rooney can be reached at 330-287-1645 or jrooney@the-daily-record.com. He is on Twitter at twitter.com/?RooneyReports.

CREDIT: JACK ROONEY