A Lawrenceville man has been ordered to spend the rest of his life behind bars after a Gwinnett County jury found he repeatedly sexually assaulted a young girl over the course of years.
On Tuesday, 33-year-old Jorge Nagera Perez was sentenced to three consecutive life terms plus an additional 89 years after jurors convicted him on charges that included rape and aggravated child molestation. Prosecutors said the abuse began when the girl was 3 and continued until she was 11.
Jurors deliberated for about four hours before returning guilty verdicts on two counts of rape, three counts of aggravated child molestation and two counts of child molestation, according to Patch. A judge then stacked three life sentences on top of 89 more years. Prosecutors said police opened the investigation in September 2022 after authorities were first alerted to the allegations.
Gwinnett Judicial Circuit District Attorney Patsy Austin-Gatson called the crimes "absolutely depraved" and said her office will work to make sure the girl and her family receive "the assistance they need to heal and recover," according to a news release quoted by Patch. The release noted that the DA's Special Victims Unit handled the prosecution.
Investigation And Trial
Prosecutors said witnesses from both Ohio and Georgia testified that the abuse began when the child was living in Ohio and continued after she moved to Gwinnett County. Assistant District Attorneys Dallas Cox and Scott Estes from the Special Victims Unit led the case, with support from SVU investigator Joseph Boyd and victim-witness advocate Rocio Peneda, and investigators credited the Gwinnett County Police Department for its role in the case, according to CBS Atlanta.
What Georgia Law Allows
Under Georgia law, aggravated child molestation can be punished by life in prison or by a split sentence that combines a lengthy mandatory minimum term, usually at least 25 years, followed by life on probation. Aggravated offenses fall under the state's serious violent crime sentencing provisions. See O.C.G.A. § 16-6-4 on Justia and O.C.G.A. § 17-10-6.1 on Justia for the statutory framework. Local coverage of earlier convictions has noted that Gwinnett prosecutors in recent years have pursued stiff penalties in child sex cases.
The defense may still seek post-trial review or file an appeal, and any such moves will appear in court records. Perez remains in custody while the legal process plays out. The hearings in his case were held in Gwinnett Judicial Circuit court at the Gwinnett Justice and Administration Center, the Lawrenceville courthouse that houses Superior Court and the district attorney's offices.
