ROCHESTER — A 33-year-old Austin man will avoid jail time for sending explicit pictures to a Rochester juvenile female and attempting to meet her, as long as he complies with the terms of his probation.
Calvin Richard Brown pleaded guilty in November 2022 in Olmsted County District Court to one felony count of engaging in electronic communication describing sexual conduct with a child in exchange for dismissing a felony charge of soliciting a child through electronic communication to engage in sexual conduct.
Brown communicated with the juvenile, who court documents say was under 9-years-old, via Snapchat over a couple of days in January 2022 before police began investigating him.
He appeared before District Judge Joseph Chase on Monday, Feb. 6, 2023, where he was ordered to register as a predatory offender and to complete a sex offender program.
An adult family member initially notified the Rochester Police Department on Jan. 25, 2022, that Brown was having sexually explicit conversations with the juvenile, starting on Jan. 23, 2022, according to the criminal complaint.
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Chase ordered a five-year stay of imposition for Brown in accordance with Minnesota sentencing guidelines. If Brown violates the terms of his probation, a 15-month prison sentence may be imposed.
Chase could have ordered jail time for Brown (Brown's plea deal called for a 10-day cap for jail time at sentencing) but he declined.
"I just don't see the use of jail time for now," Chase said in court.
Two of the juvenile's family members also appeared in court Monday, saying the family of the juvenile supports Brown and still looks after him.
Brown has a limited intellectual capacity, his defense attorney, Amanda Lindberg, said in court. He receives Social Security income due to his disability.
One of the family members, who identified herself as the aunt of the juvenile, called the incident a misunderstanding in court.
"This is no misunderstanding," Chase replied. "This was a sexual communication with an 8- or 9-year-old girl."
Brown also revealed during a psycho-sexual evaluation he took for the court that he had previous sexual contacts with juveniles, Chase said in court. Chase did not say how old Brown was during those contacts or what they consisted of, but indicated that Brown was possibly much younger during those contacts than he is now.
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"You just can't have sexual contact or communication with kids," Chase said in court. "It's just not right."
Brown is no longer allowed to have contact with any juvenile, visit playgrounds, schools or day cares and is prohibited from holding a position of authority over minors. He is allowed to use the internet if the device he's using has monitoring software on it.
Brown was also ordered to complete the booking process Monday. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he has not appeared in court in-person until today.
According to the criminal complaint:
While RPD was investigating the incident, it was discovered that Brown had reported the conversation to the Austin Police department and claimed the juvenile was the one making sexual comments.
Officers found several messages of Brown's explicit Snapchat conversation with the juvenile through several search warrants.
Brown told an adult family member of the juvenile that he had inappropriate conversations with the juvenile and the family member told law enforcement.
The Trust Project
