The seal of the Air Force Judge Advocate General’s Corps. (U.S. Air Force)
FORT SHAFTER, Hawaii – An Air Force judge advocate in Hawaii is in federal custody, charged with attempting to lure a 14-year-old girl into having sex.
Lt. Col. Ross Andrew Brown, 41, was arrested April 16 at Schofield Barracks after traveling there for what he believed would be a sexual encounter with a girl named Izzy, according to a criminal complaint filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Hawaii.
Izzy was actually an online persona created by an Army Criminal Investigative Division special agent who is also affiliated with the Internet Crimes Against Children-Hawaii Task Force, the complaint said.
Brown is charged with attempted sexual enticement of a minor. He is scheduled for a detention hearing Friday in federal court in Honolulu where prosecutors will ask Magistrate Judge Kenneth Mansfield for no bail, according to a motion filed Monday.
The complaint alleges Brown first contacted the person he believed was Izzy on April 12 via a social media platform called Whisper. They also communicated using Telegram.
During exchanges in the following days, Brown continually steered the conversations toward explicit discussions about sex, particularly about how he as an older man could provide “lessons” to a young girl, the complaint said.
“The youngest I’ve taught was 16,” Brown wrote on April 13, the complaint states. “That was a lot of fun.”
He continued: “Some of the most fun sex I’ve had has actually been teaching inexperienced girls. I like sort of expanding things for them and helping them explore if it makes sense.”
Brown poses a flight risk if released on bail, according to the motion.
“A conviction will likely end his career as a military officer and as an attorney, and result in a sentence of no less than ten years and up to life imprisonment,” the motion states.
Brown first contacted Izzy only days before his arrest, and investigators were able to identify him before Sunday’s attempted meetup.
Brown had sent two photographs to Izzy, according to the complaint, which said agents matched those images with Brown’s photo on his Defense Department Common Access Card.
Brown is a legal adviser for the 613th Air Operations Center at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, the complaint said. That center executes command and control of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command’s joint air and space operations.
“His military legal experience includes prosecution of child sex offenses,” the complaint states.
Pacific Air Forces confirmed in a statement Thursday that Brown is a legal adviser with the 613th but referred all questions to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Hawaii.
