Second man sentenced in sexual assault of teenager

A second New York man has been sentenced in connection with the sexual assault of a 14-year-old girl in a Groton motel room last December.

Judge Susan B. Handy sentenced Christopher Brown, 20, of Far Rockaway, N.Y., to a year in prison and 10 years' probation this morning and ordered him to register as a sex offender upon his release.

The victim told police that Brown and Erik Heyward, 22, of Hollis, N.Y., abducted her from a New London street on Dec. 28, 2008, but the state did not prosecute the two men on kidnapping charges. Both admitted they had sex with the girl, but said they did not know her age. Heyward is serving a two-year sentence.

"The state needs to send a message that if you're going to get involved with a minor and have sexual contact, there's going to be a price to pay," said prosecutor John P. Gravalec-Pannone.

The girl told police the men took her to the Windsor Motel at 345 Route 184 and sexually assaulted her several times while smoking marijuana. She said she faked falling asleep and fled when she heard the men leave the room. She ran to the first open business she found and called police from the Hilton Garden Inn.

"We obviously have a substantially different version of what took place," said Brown's attorney, attorney Anthony Basilica.

Brown had come to the area to deliver Christmas presents to a relative when he was arrested. Basilica said Brown plans to return to New York when he finishes his sentence and has a full-time job lined up. Brown has been working on his GED while in prison and is scheduled to take the exam next month.

"I know what we did was wrong, and I'm sorry for that," Brown said. "I was only out here for two days when this happened, and I feel like my life has been taken away from me."

"The law says that when you have sex with someone under the age of 16, you have committed a crime," the judge told him.

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