Convicted Sex Offender Sentenced to 20 Years for Possession of Child Pornography

Orlando, FL – Chief United States District Judge Anne C. Conway yesterday sentenced Jesse Ausbin Brown (62, Orlando) to 20 years in federal prison for possession of child pornography, followed by a life term of supervised release. Brown pleaded guilty on October 23, 2014.

According to court documents, on September 20, 2012, the Winter Garden Police Department received a complaint regarding a man, later identified as Brown, who was attempting to lure young children into his car. Officers later pulled Brown over while he was driving and discovered that, in May of 1992, he had been convicted in the Western District of South Dakota for sexually abusing two children, and sentenced to almost 20 years in prison. Upon his release from prison, Brown completed his term of supervised release and moved from South Dakota to Winter Garden, Florida. Although he was required by law to register as a sex offender upon moving to Florida, he failed to do so. Officers then arrested Brown and he was later convicted in federal court of failure to register as a sex offender.

After Brown’s arrest, his car was sold on December 2, 2012. While cleaning out the car, the purchaser found a smartphone that contained images of child pornography.  Subsequent examination of the phone revealed that numerous images of child pornography had been saved to the phone, some with a receipt date of September 5, 2012. Brown later admitted to authorities that he had downloaded the child pornography onto his phone and hidden it in the trunk of the car.

This case was investigated by the Winter Garden Police Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Marshals Service, and the Orange County Sheriff’s Office. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Joseph M. Schuster.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.  Led by United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.