Crime Watch followup: Christopher A. Brown pleads guilty in Roxbury rape/beating attack

Just discovered this in the court files:

The man charged in last March’s rape and beating of a 58-year-old woman near 22nd/Roxbury has pleaded guilty. The attack drew regional-media attention as deputies went door to door searching for clues to solve the exceptionally violent attack. 25-year-old Christopher Anthony Brown was found via a DNA match, arrested in Oklahoma in June, charged with rape and assault, and extradited. Investigators said Brown had been visiting this area when he attacked the victim as she waited for a bus – asking her for a cigarette, then offering her money for sex, and when she declined, dragging her into nearby shrubbery, choking her until she was nearly unconscious, beating her, raping her, robbing her, and threatening to kill her and her family if she reported it.

According to documents in the online files, prosecutors will recommend a sentence that would put Brown in prison for 171 months – just over 14 years. Brown pleaded guilty last week to one count each of rape, assault, and robbery. King County Superior Court Judge Julie Spector is scheduled to sentence him on November 14th.

20 Replies to "Crime Watch followup: Christopher A. Brown pleads guilty in Roxbury rape/beating attack"

  • Jason October 24, 2014 (3:41 pm)

    So this guy gets just 1 more year than the 19 year old kid that stole the cell phones on the bus? Disgusting.

  • heather October 24, 2014 (3:54 pm)

    Thank you for this update.

  • C October 24, 2014 (3:56 pm)

    Fourteen years is not nearly enough. This woman will live with fear, perhaps the rest of her life. This monster changed her life. Why is the US so weak with punishing violent crime?

  • Eric1 October 24, 2014 (5:39 pm)

    Agreed the time is not enough given the crime. However, it does keep the case from going to trial which may the victim may want to avoid. Most of the time, plea bargains are not done in a vacuum so I’d guess that this was the best they could do.
    .
    It isn’t fair to compare it to the Rapid Ride 19 year old adult who stole a phone with a gun. That sentence was very appropriate given the violence level he displayed. He was also convicted of multiple crimes, not just the Rapid Ride robbery. I wish sentences like that were handed out more often.

    • WSB October 24, 2014 (6:05 pm)

      One other thing to keep in mind re: the comparison … There is a mandatory extra five years for using a gun, whether you fire it or not, whether someone’s hurt or not. As violent and injurious as the rape/beating was, the rapist was not reported to have been armed, so that is not an option. Doesn’t make either right or wrong, good or bad, but just for context’s sake … TR

  • Thomas M. October 24, 2014 (6:54 pm)

    It is not the judges. Sentencing guidelines leave judges with no choice. If you want harsher sentencing guides you have to take it to Olympia. The prisons are already full, so also be prepared to pay more taxes to warehouse these guys. What are we to do with these monsters?

  • Jim P. October 24, 2014 (6:58 pm)

    Must be a typo, I think most of us would expect that to read “years” not “months”.

    Rape with violence (not that rape is ever non-violent, inherently) should never be treated lightly and those who commit it need to be locked away for a very, very long time.

  • wscommuter October 24, 2014 (7:11 pm)

    To add to the Tracy’s comment – on the 5 years added to a Class A felony, it is straight time (no time off for good behavior) and it is consecutive to the underlying sentence. For those who don’t like the sentence imposed on this rape offense, lobby your state representatives – the legislature sets the punishment ranges for all felonies in WA. Courts are required to follow those sentencing ranges, except in special (unusual) circumstances.

  • Interesting October 24, 2014 (9:04 pm)

    why isn’t there a picture of this POS with his story? Had to google his name to get a good look at the person who would do such a thing.

    • WSB October 24, 2014 (9:17 pm)

      We don’t have a photo of him.

  • Thomas M. October 24, 2014 (9:15 pm)

    and there is nothing wrong about tacking on a 5 year minimum for having a gun on you while in the course of a crime. Guns are an American birthright, but they come with a very heavy responsibility. That is as it should be.

  • Karen October 24, 2014 (9:27 pm)

    What about the suspected “companion” to this assault?
    I read last spring that either the victim or police suspected another individual was involved.

    • WSB October 24, 2014 (9:32 pm)

      Only mention we ever had in our multiple reports on this was that the victim’s purse might have been given to “an associate” of the attacker. That did not infer “the associate” was with him at the time but that someone might have received it later (maybe not even knowing it had been stolen?) and been walking around with it.

  • KO October 24, 2014 (9:32 pm)

    I thought I read last spring that there might have been another individual involved in this crime. Was that ever confirmed?

  • WTF October 25, 2014 (12:26 am)

    I hope he rots in hell.

  • steve October 25, 2014 (8:46 am)

    pure evil.

  • AlkiBeach October 28, 2014 (2:18 pm)

    I’m curious, are victims told prior of the convicts pending release date and location? If so, I would be at that prison’s gate to give him a personal extended life sentense if that happened to me or any family or loved one! Just saying…

  • WS Me October 30, 2014 (8:19 pm)

    The guy that killed my brother got 18 years. This jerk got 14 years for forever changing a woman’s life! Both huge crimes. BOTH deserving of many more years behind bars than the years imposed to them! The LOSERS win again…

  • Jj October 31, 2014 (12:09 am)

    Prisons are full because we have more people here than ever and that means more tax revenue then ever. Right now, we have more state employees than ever and perhaps a few of those gives us more money for prison space. You read about these guys who are habitual criminals… You wonder by locking them up, how much future crime doesn’t happen.

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