On Monday, April 10, 2023, Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office prosecutors Jaime Wallace and Shanna Redwine selected a jury. They presented testimony in the State of Texas vs. Chancese C. Brown for the charge of Continuous Sexual Abuse of a Child.
Prosecutors presented evidence that in 2018, Brown sexually abused a child in a trailer that Brown called his “man cave.” Brown would take the child there and show the child anime pornography and other sexually explicit material. Brown posed as a “sex instructor” in order to groom and later sexually abuse the victim.
After moving off Brown’s property, the victim outcried when she saw a Kid Chat poster at her school that said, “See Something, Say Something. 1-888-Kid Chat (543-2428).” Kid Chat provides students, parents, and personnel with a confidential avenue for reporting concerns for children’s safety.
Shortly after the call was made, Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office Detective Joshua Hilado (now a sergeant) began investigating the case. Children’s Safe Harbor conducted forensic interviews with multiple children in Conroe, Texas, and law enforcement executed a search warrant at Brown’s property.
Detectives collected numerous items within the “man cave,” including sex toys and electronic evidence, which corroborated what the child told law enforcement. During the trial, the jury heard from the victim, the victim’s sister, Detective Hilado, a forensic interviewer, a child abuse expert, and a digital forensics expert. At the close of evidence on Thursday, April 13, 2023, the jury quickly convicted Brown of Continuous Sexual Abuse of a Child.
During the punishment phase of the trial, the State presented evidence of the defendant’s prior conviction for Assault Family Violence and called additional witnesses to testify about the defendant’s abuse. The State also offered additional digital forensics evidence recovered from the defendant’s property, evidence that depicted acts of extreme sexual deviation including bestiality. The jury returned a Life sentence on Friday, April 14, 2023. The defendant will not be eligible for parole.
Prosecutor Jaime Wallace praised the victim by saying, “Despite a mountain of guilt, fear, and shame that often arises when disclosing sexual abuse, this child found the strength to speak out. We hope the jury’s verdict sends a message to this child and others like her: your courage is worth the climb, and because of you, this defendant will never harm another child.”
District Attorney Brett Ligon added, “The defendant lured children into his ‘man cave’ to prey upon them sexually. Those aren’t the actions of a man, but a predator. We are grateful that the jury has ensured this predator will be locked away for the rest of his life.”