Deputy Faces 15 Years on Sex Charge

A Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy faces a maximum of 15 years in federal prison after agreeing Thursday to plead guilty to one federal count of enticing a minor to engage in sex, federal prosecutors said.

Deputy Steven E. Brown was arrested in West Los Angeles in October after he allegedly sent a sexually explicit picture of himself to an undercover FBI agent, who was posing as a 13-year-old girl, and tried to arrange a hotel rendezvous.

Brown, 41, was assigned to the sheriff’s Palmdale station. He is scheduled to appear Monday in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles to enter his plea. The 14-year veteran has been on paid leave since the incident, and sheriff’s officials said Thursday they knew of no change in his status.

Authorities targeted Brown after he began e-mail correspondence with an undercover FBI agent posing as an eighth-grade girl named “Laura.” The two met in a Yahoo club that billed itself as “a place for younger girls to meet older men.”

After learning that Laura had blond hair, blue eyes and a slim figure, Brown propositioned her for sex, according to federal authorities.

Federal investigators said he also sent a sexually explicit photo of himself, as well as one of him in uniform standing next to a Medal of Valor sign.