Ward man guilty of sexual assault; sentencing scheduled next month

Found guilty Tuesday of molesting a transgender Little Rock boy, a 55-year-old Ward man, already a convicted sex offender, faces up to 26 years in prison at sentencing next month.

Pulaski County Circuit Judge Karen Whatley found Ricky Lynn Brown guilty as charged of second-degree sexual assault and sexual indecency with a child after a nonjury trial. Whatley will conduct a sentencing hearing on Feb. 15.

Brown, represented by defense attorney Floyd Healy, did not testify but his lawyer told the judge the boy, 14 years old at the time, made up the accusations against Brown to get out of trouble when his mother caught him with vaping materials.

Healy also disputed that the provisions of the sexual assault law that criminalize touching a female’s breasts could apply to Brown since Brown’s accuser now considers himself to be male. Whatley rejected that argument because the groping occurred before the boy transitioned and changed his name to reflect his gender identity.

Deputy prosecutor Molly Hines said Brown, over a four-year period that began in 2017 when the boy was 10, would extort the boy for “super hugs” in exchange for providing him with vaping supplies.

Hines, assisted by co-counsel Alexa Vetsch, said Brown would solicit the boy for sexual contact when he would ask Brown for the smoking materials, with Brown responding to such a request, “What’s in it for me?” or “What are you going to do for me?”

Sometimes Brown would want a kiss, but other times he wanted the boy, now 16, to submit to “super hugs,’” which the boy said involved Brown putting his hands under the boy’s clothing and running them over his body up to his chest. The boy told the judge other forms of abuse occurred as well, including Brown rubbing himself through clothing against the boy’s groin.

The boy denied he was accusing Brown to keep out of trouble. He said his mother caught him with a vape on Memorial Day 2021, and he told her Brown had provided him with the smoking materials then later described what Brown had made him do to get them.

Brown was arrested in February and has been jailed ever since. Court records show that he was charged with rape in Lonoke County in November 2021 over a June 2021 incident and pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of second-degree sexual assault in August 2022 in exchange for a $1,000 fine and three years of probation.