5 Browns Father Accused Of Sexual Abuse

The father of the prominent Utah family musical group The 5 Browns has been charged with sexual abuse of children in the 1990s, court records show.

Keith Brown was charged on Feb. 10 with one first-degree felony count of sodomy on a child and two second-degree felony counts of sexual abuse of a child, according to Fourth District Court records obtained Wednesday.

The records don’t identify any victim by name or indicate the relationship between Keith Brown and the alleged victims.

However, Kimball Thomson, a spokesman for The 5 Browns, said the charges involve Brown’s daughters and group members Desirae, Deondra and Melody, who are now adults. He declined to release further information on the women.

“We can confirm that Keith Brown has been charged with sexual abuse involving his daughters,” Thomson said in an e-mail to The Associated Press.

The AP does not generally identify people who say they were sexually assaulted, but the Brown women have chosen to be identified and are cooperating with police, Thomson said.

A message left Wednesday for Keith Brown’s attorney, Steven Shapiro, was not immediately returned.

The 5 Browns are a classical piano-playing group consisting of three sisters and two brothers from Alpine, Utah.

Court documents state the allegations stem from separate occasions between November 1990 and October 1992, November 1990 and November 1992 and March 1997 and March 1998 in Utah County.

Thomson said the Brown women severed their professional relationship with Keith Brown in October of 2008. He was once the manager of The 5 Browns but now has no connection, Thomson said.

A court hearing had been scheduled for Brown, 55, on Thursday, but it was postponed after he and Lisa Brown, 54, the mother of the group members, were in a car crash late Monday.

A Porsche driven by Keith Brown plunged into a Utah canyon outside Salt Lake City, authorities said.

The couple had dined at Snowbird ski resort prior to the accident, said Unified Fire Authority Battalion Chief Mike Ulibarri. The Browns were initially knocked unconscious, but Keith Brown woke and was able to call 911 from a cell phone.

The cause of the crash remained under investigation, although Unified Police Lt. Justin Hoyal said speed appeared to be a factor.

The Lone Peak Police Department, which investigated the sex abuse allegations, referred all questions about the case to the Utah County attorney’s office. A telephone message left for Deputy County Attorney David Sturgill was not immediately returned.

If convicted, Keith Brown could face a sentence of up to life in prison on the first-degree felony and up to 15 years each on the second-degree felonies.

The children had visited their parents at hospitals and were hopeful for speedy recoveries, Thomson said. Their performance schedule would not be affected by the developments, he said.

No updates were available on the medical conditions of Keith and Lisa Brown.