Perry was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, as Emmitt Perry Jr., the son of Willie Maxine Perry (née Campbell) and Emmitt Perry, Sr., a carpenter [REF].
Many years later, after seeing the film Precious, he was moved to relate for the first time[REF] accounts of being molested by a friend's mother at age 10; he was also molested by three men prior to this, and later learned his own father had molested his friend [REF].