Gulfport man sentenced for repeated sex abuse of 13-year-old girl

A Gulfport man will spend nearly three decades in prison for multiple sex crimes against a young girl, District Attorney Crosby Parker announced Friday in a press release.

A Harrison County jury found David Earl Brown Jr. guilty of seven felony charges: three counts of touching a child for lustful purposes and four counts of sexual battery of a child. Earlier this week, Circuit Court Judge Chris Schmidt sentenced Brown to 45 years, suspending 10 years and leaving 35 years to serve.

It was reveled in the two-day trial that Brown repeatedly abused a 13-year-old victim living inside his home over a one-year period.

The victim disclosed the abuse to a friend in a text message. When the friend told his parents, they called Gulfport police, Parker said in the release.

“The victim gave a full disclosure in a forensic interview and testified to the details of the sexual abuse at trial,” Parker said.

The jury also heard from the nurse that helped give the sexual assault exam performed on the victim the night she disclosed the abuse, as well as the lead case investigator.

“Key evidence in the case was a series of text messages between the victim and a friend, disclosing the sexual abuse suffered by the victim, when it began, what type of abuse was suffered, and when the abuse last occurred. The text messages fully corroborated the victim’s testimony,” said Assistant District Attorney Ian Baker, who prosecuted the case along with ADA Jasmine Magee.

Brown testified at the trial and denied the allegations.

Schmidt read a statement from the victim’s mother during sentencing. She told the court that her daughter’s “innocence had been stolen to satisfy Brown’s depraved sexual desires.”

Brown will not be eligible for parole or early release from prison.