WINNEBAGO COUNTY (NBC 26) — "Come cuddle." "Your [sic] hot." "it's not illegal unless people find out."
A criminal complaint filed in Winnebago County court Thursday accuses 24-year-old Brian Brown of sending those statements to teenage girls through Snapchat over the summer.
Brian Brown faces charges of child enticement-prostitution, solicit intimate representation from a minor, expose child to harmful material and disorderly conduct.
According to the charging document, Brown began messaging teenage students from Winneconne High School, where he had previously taught. He recently took a job as a teacher in the Kimberly School District. The school district said Brown was placed on leave last week.
A 16-year-old student approached the Winneconne High School principal about the messages she allegedly received from Brown, which included a picture of Brown sitting in a chair shirtless and him asking her to "come over." The complaint said one of his messages also said "can we make out."
The principal contacted Winneconne police, according to the charging document.
The criminal complaint said Brown messaged another teenager through Snapchat, stating "we can have sex, nobody needs to know."
When the teenager replied, "I'm 16," the criminal complaint said Brown replied with, "it's not illegal unless people find out."
The criminal complaint also said the teenager received a message from Brown saying "I will pay you 40 dollars to come over" and "please."
Brown is also accused of messaging another teenager, asking for pictures of her chest. He also sent her a picture of a penis, according to the complaint.
The criminal complaint said Brown was confronted last week by an officer investigating the case. According to the complaint, Brown admitted to sending the messages and claimed that the picture of a penis he sent to one of the teenagers was not his, but a picture he found on the Internet.
According to statements in the criminal complaint, Brown told the officer that the teenagers initiated the "flirtatious" messaging, which he said he found inappropriate. He also claimed in the complaint the girls were "willing participants" in the conversations.
Brown was arrested last week. He is due in court for a preliminary hearing on October 20.
