AIDS Patient Sentenced in Attempts to Infect Children

PORTLAND, Ore. —  A man accused of trying to infect nine children with AIDS through sex pleaded no contest to reduced charges Wednesday and was sentenced to 16 years in prison.

Adam Lee Brown of Roseburg, Ore., faced 43 charges, including attempted murder, rape and penetration with a foreign object. If convicted on all those charges, he could have been sentenced to up to 300 years in prison.

Brown, 31, entered no-contest pleas to three counts of sodomy and one count of reckless endangerment. He has AIDS, but none of the children has tested positive for the virus that causes the disease.

Brown allegedly brought children from his neighborhood into his home in the summer of 1992, plying them with drugs, alcohol and pornographic videos.

William Marshall, Douglas County deputy district attorney, said Brown’s likelihood of outliving his sentence “is about the same likelihood of winning a lottery twice.”

Defense attorney Richard Cremer said Brown agreed to a plea bargain because “he was concerned about the impact a long trial would have on his health and the impact it would have on his family.”

Cremer said credit for time served and sentence reduction for good behavior could allow Brown to be released in about 12 years.

Marshall said concern for the victims was a factor in his decision to enter into the plea arrangement.

“He could have gotten more time if he went to trial, but you have to offset that with the pressure the trial would place on the children,” he said.

Mothers of two of the victims had said they had wanted Brown’s trial to proceed.

“We all want him to die in prison. When we know he’s been put away and will rot there and die there, then we could finally put this to an end and start over,” one mother said Tuesday.