59-year-old Richard M. Perkins was arrested in Oregon two weeks ago on a Park County Sheriff’s Office warrant. He is currently incarcerated in the Coos County Jail in Coquille, Oregon.
The Park County Attorney’s Office charged Perkins with a felony count of first-degree sexual abuse of a minor. Perkins allegedly sexually abused a minor in Park County sometime in May 2023, then fled the county to stay with relatives in Oregon.
First-degree offenses are considered the most serious of any crime, including sexual abuse of a minor. If convicted, Perkins faces a minimum of 25 years in prison.
Perkins is something of a public figure in northwest Wyoming for repairing and giving away children’s bicycles through the Lauralynn Project, which started in 2017. Most Park County residents probably recognize his red, white, and blue pickup truck, often parked in the lots at Albertsons in Cody or Blairs in Powell and always brimming with bicycles. The Lauralynn Project was even featured on KULR8 News in Billings in 2017.
Regardless of the charge, extradition is a lengthy legal process. The Coos County District Attorney’s Office has filed a fugitive complaint against Perkins to expedite the process, but he must be positively and legally identified before he can be returned to Park County for trial. That will be achieved through a formal identification hearing scheduled for July 10 in Coos County.
Perkins’s bail has been set at $50,000 but has not been posted as of Tuesday, June 27. A public defender has been appointed to him.
