Ex-cop Mississippi charged with child rape was charged with molestation decade earlier

Published 6:59 am Friday, March 29, 2019

A former law enforcement officer in Mississippi who’s accused of raping a 6-year-old was charged more than a decade ago with child molestation.

The Hattiesburg American reports 47-year-old William Harold Brown was arrested on the charge in 2006 just months after he was hired at the Petal Police Department. It’s unclear what became of the charge, though Brown later resigned.

That same year, Brown was accused of fighting with the family of his estranged wife and arrested on domestic violence charges. The charges were stayed, pending the settlement of the couple’s divorce.

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In 2016, Brown was hired as a Forrest County sheriff’s deputy. He was fired months later after being accused of sending sexually explicit photos to a minor.

He was arrested Monday on the child sexual battery-rape charge.