Celebrity News
Keith Brown, father of ‘The 5 Browns’ pleads guilty to incest (update)
[HMG Celebrity News] – Keith Brown, father of the highly successful musical group ‘The 5 Browns’ has been charged with allegedly abusing three of his daughters and could now face life in jail.
The 5 Browns – Desirae, 32, Deondra, 29, Gregory, 27, Melody, 25, and Ryan, 24 – are all classically trained pianists whose skills have brought them worldwide acclaim, with appearances on ‘Oprah,’ ‘The View’ and ’60 Minutes.’
But on February 10th Keith Brown was charged with one count of first-degree felony sodomy on a child and two second-degree felony counts of sexual abuse, according to Utah court records.
The victims of such crimes are not usually named, but a spokesman for the family has confirmed the charges relate to alleged abuse of Desiree, Deondra and Melody.
“We can confirm Keith Brown has been charged with sexual abuse involving his daughters,” Kimball Thomson told reporters.
Three days after charges were filed, Brown and his wife, Lisa were driving through Little Cottonwood Canyon near their home in Utah when Keith apparently lost control of the car and they fell 300-feet into an ice-covered stream. Both were knocked unconscious and Keith’s Porsche was a write-off, but their injuries are minor.
Court documents say the alleged incidents occurred between November 1990 and March 1998 in Utah. Keith was the group’s manager at the time but the children ended that arrangement in 2008.
Asked by the HuffPost for a comment, Mr. Brown’s attorney, Steven Shapiro declined until Keith is arraigned later today at a courtroom in Provo.
Should the allegations be proven Mr. Brown could face life in prison for the first-degree charge, and up to 15-years for each of the second-degree counts. We’ll keep you advised…
Update: Keith Brown, 55, the father of The 5 Browns musical group pleaded guilty Thursday to sexually abusing his daughters when they were children in a deal that will save the family further embarrassment and send him to prison for at least 10 years. Sentencing is on March 31. Brown did not speak to reporters but left the following statement:
“He is terribly remorseful for what has happened and for what he has put his family through,” defense attorney Steven Shapiro said after the hearing. “He recognizes that this is the next step in the long road to trying to accept responsibility for something terrible that he did a long time ago.”
