Deputy Pleads Not Guilty to Sex Charge
A sheriff’s deputy accused of using the Internet to solicit sex from someone he believed to be a 13-year-old girl pleaded not guilty to the charge Monday, authorities said.
Steven Brown, a 41-year-old patrol deputy with the Palmdale station of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, appeared at a hearing in U.S. District Court, said Thom Mrozek, spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office.
Brown allegedly sent sexually explicit messages to an undercover FBI agent who posed as “Laura,” a self-described eighth-grader with blond hair, blue eyes and a slim figure. According to an FBI criminal complaint, Brown sent “Laura” a sexually explicit photograph and suggested that they meet for sex.
Brown was arrested Oct. 8 at a West Los Angeles mall, where he had arranged to meet the girl. He is being held without bail at the Metropolitan Detention Center.
His trial is set to begin Dec. 14, Mrozek said.
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