Man pleads guilty to sexual assault of autistic teen
WEST CHESTER >> The final courtroom chapter in the criminal case of two men who sexually abused an autistic teenager and filmed her having sex with them closed with a guilty plea by the man who convinced the girl that he was a teenager like herself to lure her into the lurid threesome.
John Christopher Brown, formerly of Norristown, pleaded guilty on Dec. 11 to multiple charges that dealt with the sex trafficking accusations leveled against him and his co-defendant, Lawrence “Larry” Jamieson, a member of a prominent Main Line family.
As part of a plea agreement between the prosecution, led by Assistant District Attorney Emily Provencher of the DA’s Child Abuse Unit, and Brown’s attorney, President Judge Jacqueline Carroll Cody sentenced Brown to 24 years to 48 years in state prison.
Brown, 28, is already serving a 52-year sentence in federal prison for crimes he confessed to arising from the same scheme, as well as charges of possession of child pornography. It is unclear whether the sentence handed by by Cody will begin after Brown completes his federal prison term, or run alongside it.
The victim in the case, who was 16 when she became trapped in the sexual relationship with the two older men, was not in Cody’s courtroom at the Chester County Justice Center, although she has attended previous hearings in the matter and spoke at Brown’s sentencing in federal court.
When asked by Cody if he had any statement for the court, Brown demurred. “Just if the victim was here I’d apologize to her,” adding that he hoped that she can move on and be happy.
Cody acknowledged that Brown had taken credit for the “extreme horror” that he caused and encouraged him to do something good in his life even from prison.
According to the facts as presented by Provencher and agreed to by Brown and his attorney, Assistant Public Defender Stephen Delano, the case began in
August 2016, when the victim’s mother found suspicious text messages on the victim’s cellphone. The text messages indicated that the victim was having a sexual relationship with someone named “L,” who was later identified to be Jamieson.
The victim was interviewed by Willistown Detective Steve Jones, and told him that she was having a sexual relationship with Jamieson. These sexual acts were photographed and video recorded on her cellphone and sent through text messages to Brown, who she described as her boyfriend.
What she did not know is that Jamieson had manufactured the relationship between Brown and the girl by convincing him to to pose as a teenager her age who also struggled with emotional and family issues. At Jamieson’s behest, Brown began a sexual relationship with the girl that included oral, anal, and vaginal sexual intercourse approximately 20-50 times — on several occasions at Jamieson’s home on Laurel Circle in Willistown.
At some point, Brown began directing the victim to have sexual intercourse with Jamieson at Jamieson’s home. These acts would be filmed and photographed, and the files would be sent to Jamieson and the defendant through text messages.
In her address to a federal judge during Brown’s sentencing proceeding in June, the victim, now an adult, related the betrayal she suffered at Brown’s hands.
“His stories broke my heart and made me want to help him,” said the victim, now a 20-year-old. “I wanted to help him get away from that situation, because I could relate with feeling scared of my dad and feeling overwhelmed and stuck. I thought our similar experiences made us soulmates. I thought that John could really understand me, believe me, and protect me as we built a life together.”
Jamieson is currently serving a 100-year sentence in federal prison. He also pleaded guilty to state charges, and was sentenced to 15-to-40 years in prison for those crimes.
To contact staff writer Michael P. Rellahan call 610-696-1544.