Erlindo Perez Jr - 45 years without parole in plea deal

“This guy needed to go away,” Burns said. “He had a history of this kind of behavior.”


A man who broke into a neighbor’s house and raped and injured a 13-year-old girl was sentenced to 45 years in prison without parole Friday morning after pleading guilty to aggravated sexual assault of a child.

Erlindo Perez Jr., 28, of Mineral Wells, agreed to the plea bargain less than a week before a jury trial was scheduled to begin.

“This community has been rid of a dangerous child predator for the next 45 years,” District Attorney Mike Burns said after the trial and sentencing Friday.

“This guy needed to go away,” Burns said. “He had a history of this kind of behavior.”

Perez broke into a house where a 13-year-old girl was sleeping and raped and strangled her to the point of unconsciousness, Burns said.

Police were called to the scene around 6:50 a.m. April 26, which was in the same hundred block of Perez’s listed address on S.W. 10th Street, when a caller reported that a girl spending the night at the residence had been raped.

Police arrested Perez on a warrant around 11:30 a.m. that same morning.

“[Mineral Wells Police] Detective Brian Boetz should be congratulated for exemplary work in this investigation,” Burns said. “He made our job easy.”

Perez pleaded guilty Friday to both parts of the indictment alleging he caused serious bodily injury and threatened to kill the girl when he raped her.

Under state law anyone convicted of aggravated sexual assault of a child that includes serious bodily injury or threat of death is not eligible for parole, according to Burns.