In 2013, Frank Duane Brown, 72, pleaded guilty to six felony counts and admitted to raping a child. Now, 11 years later, he’s about to be released from prison 34 years before the end of his sentence, and the Riverside County District Attorney had harsh words for the judge who decided to allow it.
Brown was sentenced to 45 years in prison in 2013 after the guilty pleas for forced lewd and
lascivious sexual acts on a child under the age of 14 years old.
Brown’s release was granted Thursday by Riverside County Superior Court Judge Scott P. Williams under the state of California’s “Compassionate Release” law.
Compassionate release grants medical parole to inmates with less than six months to live. Brown was diagnosed with metastatic liver cancer in July.
He’ll be a free man within 30 days.
“While early release has become increasingly common, it is appalling that this release was even
being considered given the offender’s violent crime against a child,” Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin said. “Once again, the state places the victim in a traumatic situation, forcing her to fight to keep her perpetrator in prison for the sentence handed down by a court of law. By doing so, victims must relive their devastating experiences. How is this justice?”
On Friday, the DA’s Office released a harrowing video of Brown’s victim speaking with anonymity about the abuse he levied on her when she was less than 14 years old.
“They’ve done some terrible things to me,” the woman identified only as Jane Doe said. “I lived with this man and he raped me almost every single day.”
The woman said Brown lied, saying he “didn’t know her.”
The DA’s Office says it opposes Brown’s release not only on a moral basis and the risk he could pose to public safety, but also because of a “lack of reliable evidence supporting Brown’s
medical condition and outlook.”
“Our office remains steadfast in opposing the early release of felons to protect victims and ensure public safety,” Hestrin said. “It is outrageous that we must constantly advocate to keep a clearly dangerous sexual predator behind bars for their full sentence. This is a battle we are committed to fighting every single day until this practice is put to an end.”