Gavel On Desk In Front Of Judge Working On Laptop

After maintaining his innocence for more than two years, a Prineville man will not face trial for accusations he abused a young girl.

Tyler Andrew Perrigo, 40, was set to be tried Monday on charges he sexually abused a child known to him. Because his accuser was younger than 12, Perrigo would have faced 25 years in prison under Oregon’s Jessica’s Law.

But Friday afternoon, Crook County District Attorney Wade Whiting filed a motion to dismiss the case with prejudice, meaning it cannot be tried again.

“My client and I are grateful to the good and just judgment of the District Attorney of Crook County,” Perrigo’s attorney, Rich Cohen, wrote to The Bulletin. “My client and I wish those who acted against his interests well, and better conduct in the future.”

Perrigo was indicted by a grand jury in May 2019. Several multiday motion hearings were held to consider the admissibility of results from polygraph — or so-called “lie detector” — tests and Perrigo’s statements to police. The case was further delayed by a lack of courtroom availability due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

As the state prepared for trial, prosecutors met with witnesses to review details of the case, but, according to Whiting, memories of the incident had faded “considerably.”

“As required by law, these inconsistent statements were documented by the state and immediately provided to the defense,” Whiting told The Bulletin. “The state reexamined the evidence in the case and determined it was unable to meet the legal burden of proving the charges beyond a reasonable doubt.”

Cohen said the case underscores the unreliability of polygraph testing.

Prior to trial, Perrigo underwent three polygraph tests conducted by three different polygraph operators, once during his initial police interview. Crook County Sheriff’s Deputy Javier Sanchez cited that test, which police say Perrigo failed, as a reason to arrest him for unlawful sexual penetration, according to documents on file with Crook County Circuit Court.

But Cohen said each of the three polygraph operators scored Perrigo’s results differently, and in Perrigo’s initial polygraph test, he demonstrates suggestibility, not a guilty mind.

“The problem is, the suggestions didn’t match up with the details reported against my client,” Cohen said.

Perrigo, a Seaside native, today operates a trucking and excavation company out of Bend, Perrigo Farms. Last weekend was the first he spent with his sons since the case began in 2019.

Perrigo told The Bulletin the case significantly disrupted his relationship with his children, whom he was only allowed to visit while supervised, and cost him numerous hauling contracts from loyal customers.

“It’s been two and a half years of living under the threat of 25 years of jail. Two and a half years of not having my sons,” he said.

Perrigo said of deputy Sanchez, “I don’t think he has much future as a detective. I think he should look into work as a fiction writer.”

“I have as much faith in polygraphs as I have in police integrity,” he said.

The case is similar in some ways to that of Redmond man Joshua Gene Horner. In March, 2019, Deschutes County District Attorney John Hummel announced he would not re-try Horner for child sex crimes after the Oregon Court of Appeals reversed Horner’s conviction. Hummel cited evidence the accuser’s claims were erroneous provided to his office by the Oregon Innocence Project.