April 14, 2023
(Anchorage, AK) – Today Anchorage Superior Court Judge Andrew Peterson sentenced a serial rapist who admitted to sexually assaulting 10 women. In a plea agreement, Judge Peterson sentenced 25-year-old Jim Persey to a maximum sentence of 60 years with 10 suspended, on two counts of sexual assault in the first degree.
Between 2014 and 2016, when he was 16 to18 years old, Persey sexually assaulted 10 young women. The assaults often involved strangulation, the use of a knife, beatings and the hurling of racial epithets. The case broke open in 2016 when two women came forward in a short amount of time with similar allegations against Persey. The Anchorage Police Department put out a request for anyone with additional information, and other victims began reporting.
The sentence today was a result of a plea agreement where Persey was allowed to enter a plea to two consolidated counts of sexual assault in the first degree, but was required to admit the conduct of all of the sexual assaults. The plea agreement called for a sentencing range between 26 and 60 years of total jail time, including a required suspended term. The defendant requested a sentence of 33 years to serve. The Court adopted the State’s recommendation of 60 years with 10 suspended, or 50 years to serve. After completion of the active term of his sentence, Persey will be on probation for 15 years. He will be required to register as a sex offender for life.
In his sentencing remarks the Court noted that Persey was the most prolific sex offender the Judge had seen and said there is no other way to describe Persey than a “serial rapist.” The Court took impact statements from many of the victims who appeared in court or on the phone and specifically recognized the trauma that they had been subjected to by the sexual assaults. He recognized that they are now all facing different “challenges, demons and hurdles that will be with them for the rest of their lives, simply because of Mr. Persey’s desire for sexual gratification.”
The State thanks the many women involved in this case for their bravery in coming forward to report these horrific crimes, and the Anchorage Police Department Special Victim’s Unit for their dedication in investigating the case and pursing justice on behalf of those women.
For more information contact Anchorage District Attorney Brittany Dunlop at (907) 269-6300 or brittany.dunlop@alaska.gov
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Department Media Contacts: Communications Director Patty Sullivan at patty.sullivan@alaska.gov or (907) 269-6368. Information Officer Sam Curtis at sam.curtis@alaska.gov or (907) 269-6379.
