Halfway Man, 62, Gets 10.5 Years for Three Rape Convictions

James Alan Perales, 62, of Halfway, was sentenced to 10½ years in state prison after pleading guilty to three counts of third-degree rape in Baker County Circuit Court on March 20, a case rooted in his decision to hire a 15-year-old girl to do work around his home before sexually abusing her repeatedly over the summer of 2025.

Perales, who appeared before visiting Judge Beth A. Allen in handcuffs, entered the plea following a settlement conference between Baker County District Attorney Greg Baxter and Perales' court-appointed attorney, Kyra Rohner of Baker City. Twelve other counts from a grand jury indictment were dismissed as part of the plea agreement, including two additional counts of third-degree rape. Each of the three counts to which Perales pleaded guilty is classified as a Class C felony.

Baxter told the judge before sentencing that the girl's mother called police after learning Perales had sex with her daughter multiple times. On the morning of sentencing, Baxter said he spoke with both the girl and her mother and that they were satisfied with the punishment.

Perales had been held at Baker County Jail since his arrest in September 2025, roughly six months before the plea and sentencing.

The case carried an additional dimension that emerged during the Baker County Sheriff's Office investigation: the man Halfway residents had known for roughly 12 years as James Alan Ferrell was not who he claimed to be. Deputies discovered during the investigation that his true name was James Alan Perales.

That prior identity obscured a serious criminal history. Baxter told Judge Allen that Perales had been convicted in Colorado in 2003 for sexually abusing a child and served five and a half years in prison for that offense. The Oregon conviction now adds a decade-plus sentence to that record, with Perales at 62 facing release well into his seventies.