Ronald William Brown: Cannibalism Chats, Plea, and Sentence

Ronald William Brown, a 57-year-old church puppeteer from Largo, Florida, was sentenced in July 2013 to 20 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to five counts of receiving child pornography and three counts of possessing it. The Ronald William Brown puppeteer case drew national attention because investigators found he had discussed kidnapping, killing, and cannibalizing children in online chats, including a specific boy who attended his church.

Who Brown Was

Brown performed Bible stories with puppets at Gulf Coast Church in Largo, where he had been an active congregant for years.¹ He lived in the Whispering Pines mobile home park, where he served pizza to neighborhood children and drove kids to church services.

His work brought him into contact with children through several other organizations as well. He had been hired or served as a volunteer, performer, instructor, or mentor for the Tampa Bay Rays, the Pinellas County School District, the Christian Television Network, the City of Largo, and Gulf Coast Jewish Family and Community Services.¹ He had no prior criminal record in Florida, which let him clear routine background checks.

How Investigators Found Him

Brown was identified through a broader child exploitation investigation called Operation Holitna, run by Homeland Security Investigations. The direct lead came in May 2012, when Michael Arnett was arrested in Roeland Park, Kansas, on child pornography charges. A forensic exam of Arnett’s computers showed he had been exchanging images and messages with someone using the Yahoo screen name “uelime,” which investigators traced to Brown.²

On July 19, 2012, HSI agents searched Brown’s Largo home and seized a computer, CDs, DVDs, microdisks, cameras, and a thumb drive.³ Forensic review turned up hundreds of images of child pornography and child erotica, including images of children being bound and tortured and hundreds of images of deceased children.⁴ He was arrested and held without bail at the Pinellas County Jail.

The Cannibalism Chats and Dropped Conspiracy Charge

Federal prosecutors initially charged Brown with conspiring to kidnap a child alongside the pornography counts.⁵ A 29-page federal criminal complaint described chats in which Brown and Arnett discussed kidnapping, sexually abusing, murdering, and cannibalizing children, including a specific boy from Gulf Coast Church. In one message, Brown wrote, “I imagine him wiggling and then going still.”¹ Arnett allegedly advised Brown to knock the child out and suggested trailer parks and low-income housing as places to find victims.

Other chats described children as young as two. Arnett allegedly described how various human body parts would taste when cooked. When one participant suggested a specific child “would make a fine Easter feast,” Brown agreed and described which parts of the boy’s body he found appealing.⁶ An ICE spokesman said he had “never seen anything this gruesome.”¹

Brown’s defense argued the conspiracy count should not stand because he and Arnett had never met in person and the chats were role-play, not a plan.⁷ Prosecutors dropped the conspiracy charge when Brown agreed to plead guilty to the pornography counts.⁶

Plea and Sentence

On March 25, 2013, Brown pleaded guilty in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida to all eight counts of a superseding indictment: three counts of possession of child pornography under 18 U.S.C. § 2252A(a)(5)(B) and five counts of receipt of child pornography under 18 U.S.C. § 2252A(a)(2).⁸ Each possession count carried up to 10 years; each receipt count carried a mandatory minimum of five years and a maximum of 20.²

On July 29, 2013, U.S. District Judge James D. Whittemore sentenced Brown to 20 years in federal prison followed by a lifetime of supervised release, and ordered forfeiture of his computer equipment and phone.³ Although the kidnapping conspiracy charge had been dropped, Judge Whittemore cited the cannibalism chats in going above the standard guidelines, saying “the risk is that obsession becomes more than fantasy.”⁶ Shane Folden, deputy special agent in charge of HSI Tampa, said Brown “lived a double life” and that “behind closed doors, he had a sick obsession that focused on children.”⁴ Assistant U.S. Attorney Amanda C. Kaiser prosecuted the case.⁸

1
Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Puppeteer Had Cannibal Urges, Officials Say
2
U.S. Department of Justice. Notice of Maximum Penalty, Elements of Offense, and Factual Basis
3
U.S. Department of Justice. Largo Puppeteer Sentenced to 20 Years in Federal Prison
4
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Florida Puppeteer Sentenced to 20 Years on Child Pornography Charges
5
Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Puppeteer Wrote of His Desire to Kill
6
Slate. Ronald Brown Child Pornography Case: Judge Adds to Sentence for Cannibalism Chats
7
NBC News. Puppeteer Who Fantasized Online About Cannibalism Arrested on Child Porn, Conspiring
8
U.S. Department of Justice. Largo Puppeteer Pleads Guilty to Possession and Receipt of Child Pornography