Affidavit shows older sibling may have helped to expose alleged sex abuse of child

Harrison Thorp 11:52 a.m.


Affidavit shows older sibling may have helped to expose alleged sex abuse of child

Ernest Brown (Rochester Police photo)

ROCHESTER - A Gonic man indicted in a four-year pattern of rape and sexual assault of a child may not have been arrested had it not been for the intervention of an older sibling who suspected the alleged abuse, according to a police affidavit filed in September.

Ernest Brown, 53, allegedly began his pattern of abuse in June of 2015, performing various sexual acts on the victim, who was eight years old when the incidents are said to have begun, but only admitted to several months of abuse during an interview described in the affidavit.

Meanwhile, The Rochester Voice has learned that Brown was also a former volunteer for Rochester Girl Scout Troop 12005.

Carrie Loszewski, director of marketing for Girl Scouts of the Green and White Mountains, confirmed on Wednesday that Brown was a "volunteer" for the troop in 2014-15, but hasn't been with them since then. She said Brown passed all background checks at the time.

A Foster's Daily Democrat story in April 2015 described Brown as a "troop leader."

Loszewski said she couldn't confirm whether he had been the official leader of the troop or not, but said she wanted to make it clear that the safety of all girls was the number one priority of the Girls Scouts of America and Rochester Troop 12005.

The Rochester Voice reported last Saturday that Brown had also been a coach with the Rochester Girls Softball League for several years. The league removed him as coach and banned him from their practice facility upon his arrest, league president Derek Perkins said last week.

According to the affidavit filed Sept. 3, officers reported to the victim's home on Aug. 17 after she told her mother about the alleged sexual assaults.

On Aug. 19 the victim was interviewed at the Child Advocacy Center in Dover, where she described the alleged abuse that had occurred two days earlier, saying that Brown had come into her bedroom when she was changing into her pajamas and sexually assaulted her.

Moments later a sibling of the victim, who had "suspected something going on for a while" came into the room to try to "catch (Brown) doing something inappropriate," according to the affidavit.

When the sibling walked into the room they said Brown "was standing over (the victim) and looked like he was holding (her) ankle area," the affidavit states.

Brown was interviewed by Rochester Police Det. Justin Livingstone on Aug. 23 and Aug. 24, during which time he admitted that he "played a 'game' with the victim that went too far," and that he had performed sex acts on the child over a period of several months.

Brown was arrested on Sept. 3 and held on $25,000 cash bail. He was first held at Strafford County Jail, but transferred to Carroll County Jail earlier this month.

Brown was indicted on 13 charges of sexual assault and rape of a female child for more than four years going back to June 2015.

Several of the indictments are based on alternative charges that don't specify a "pattern" of abuse, but the sentencing guidelines of 10-30 years in state prison apply to all of them.