BOSTON -- A 50-year-old registered sex offender from Williamstown has been charged with sexually exploiting a 16-year-old boy, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
According to the U.S. Attorney's complaint, Ronald Brown in December met the 16-year-old online and engaged the boy in a long series of texts, chat sessions and emails, many of which involved explicit sexual communications. On Jan. 8, Brown viewed the boy via Skype performing a sexual act and also received a naked picture of him, according to the complaint.
Brown also arranged for the boy to run away from home so that they could live together as romantic partners, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. Brown bought a one-way airline ticket for the boy to fly from his home to Newark, N.J., sent $150 for traveling expenses, and instructed him to erase files on his computer.
The complaint goes on to say that on Jan. 19, 2013, the boy ran away from his home and flew to Newark, where Brown met him. The two drove into New York where they engaged in sex before continuing toward Massachusetts. Ultimately, Brown was stopped by the police, who had been alerted to the boy's disappearance.
U.S. Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz and Richard DesLauriers, special agent in charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Boston Field Division, made the announcement Friday. The case was investigated with the assistance of the Williamstown Police Department, the Massachusetts State Police
The maximum sentence for the charge of sexual exploitation of children is 50 years in prison, followed by a lifetime of supervised release and a fine of $250,000.
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