Tiverton man found guilty of first-degree sexual assault

Published on Monday, May 15, 2023

Attorney General Peter F. Neronha announced that a Tiverton man has been found guilty in Newport County Superior Court of two counts of sexual assault against female victims in 2006 and 2018.

On May 11, 2023, following the conclusion of a four-day trial before Superior Court Justice Maureen B. Keough, the jury found Brian Brownell (age 58) guilty of two counts of first-degree sexual assault.

The defendant, who is a registered sex offender, is currently being held without bail at the Adult Correctional Institutions (ACI) pending a sentencing hearing to be scheduled at a later date. The defendant was previously convicted of indecent assault and battery on a person under 14 in Massachusetts in 2000, and possession of child pornography in Rhode Island in 2015.

During the trial, the State proved beyond a reasonable doubt that in May of 2006, the defendant sexually assaulted a woman, who was known to him, at a residence in Newport. The state also proved beyond a reasonable doubt that in May of 2018, the defendant sexually assaulted a second woman, who was known to him, at a residence in Tiverton.

Assistant Attorney General Eric Batista and Special Assistant Attorney General Erica Rebussini of the Office of the Attorney General and Community Policing Supervisor Jason Head of the Newport Police Department and Detective Seargeant Joshua Pelletier of the Tiverton Police Department led the investigation and prosecution of the case.

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