BEND, OR -- Deschutes County District Attorney John Hummel filed criminal charges against a former Sheriff's Deputy Monday. Ron Brown faces three counts of Official Misconduct in the First Degree and one count of Unlawful Dissemination of an Intimate Image. 

The charges stem from a death investigation on September 28, 2021. Hummel's office alleges then-Deputy Brown responded to the scene and spoke with the dead man's girlfriend who asked Brown to delete sexual photos and videos from her boyfriend's phone. Instead, prosecutors say, Brown transferred the images and videos to his own phone.

On December 30, prosecutors say the woman was denied access to her personal property during an eviction from a local motel. She called Brown for help because of the previous encounter at her boyfriend's death. In a statement, Hummel says, "Brown, eager to 'help,' went to the motel, represented to motel management that he was there on law enforcement business and retrieved the victim's belongings. This misrepresentation to motel management constituted the crime of Official Misconduct in the First Degree."

After helping retrieve the woman's items from the motel, prosecutors say Brown called her and asked to meet in a Shari's Restaurant parking lot. When she arrived, he allegedly directed her to get in the car where he was watching pornography on his phone and was breathing heavily. 

Hummel said in a statement, "Shame on Ron Brown. Our community entrusted him with a badge, handcuffs, and a gun on the condition that he would use the authority we granted him to keep our community safe. Instead, the evidence shows he weaponized the trust we put in him by taking advantage of someone who was particularly vulnerable due to her grief from losing her boyfriend. Additionally, Brown’s actions besmirch the reputation of the hundreds of excellent law enforcement officers in our community."

The Deschutes County Sheriff issued a statement saying Brown was placed on leave January 12, 2022, when Sheriff Shane Nelson learned of the allegations. He retired during the internal affairs investigation.

Brown's first court appearance is scheduled for November 29.

 

Photo: Image posted to the Deschutes County Sheriff's Office Facebook page on August 11, 2020 with the caption that said in part, "Detective Ron Brown has been with the Deschutes County Sheriff's Office for over 20 years! He started out as a Reserve Deputy, and has worked both in Corrections and Patrol. For the past five years, he has been working as a criminal detective within our Detective Division. He says the most enjoyable thing about his job is that he gets to help people."