Williamstown Man Sentenced in Child Sex Abuse Case
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — A local man was sentenced Monday in U.S. District Court in Springfield in connection with persuading a 16-year-old boy to travel to New York three years ago to engage in sexual activity.
Ronald S. Brown, 53, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Mark G. Mastroianni to 15 years in prison and 10 years of supervised release.
In November 2015, he pleaded guilty to one count of interstate travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct with a minor and one count of possession of material involving the sexual exploitation of minors.
Brown, a registered sex offender based upon a prior conviction for a sexual assault of a 14-year-old, engaged in thousands of online interactions with a 16-year-old boy between Dec. 27, 2012, and Jan. 19, 2013, to persuade him to run away from his Midwestern home to engage in sexual activity.
On Jan. 7, 2013, Brown sent the boy a one-way ticket to fly to Newark International Airport in New Jersey, and on Jan. 19, 2013, Brown picked the boy up at the Newark airport, and then transported him to New York to engage in sex. On three separate dates, Brown also sexually exploited the teenager by producing visual images of the minor engaging in lewd and lascivious conduct.
The boy was recovered in New York after his mother alerted police that her son was missing and believed to be meeting with Brown. During an interview on Jan. 20, 2013, Brown falsely told a federal agent that he believed the child to be 18 years old.
U.S. Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz and Harold H. Shaw, special agent in charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division, made the announcement. The case was investigated with assistance from the Massachusetts State Police, the Williamstown Police Department and the New York State Police. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven H. Breslow of Ortiz's Springfield Branch Office.
The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from exploitation and abuse.
We show up at hurricanes, budget meetings, high school games, accidents, fires and community events. We show up at celebrations and tragedies and everything in between. We show up so our readers can learn about pivotal events that affect their communities and their lives.
How important is local news to you? You can support independent, unbiased journalism and help iBerkshires grow for as a little as the cost of a cup of coffee a week.
