Former pilot appeals sentence in child exploitation case
May 18—NEW ALBANY — A former pilot who pleaded guilty to child exploitation in September has filed an appeal document stating his 30-year sentence is too steep and should be reviewed.
Robert Brown, 49, was arrested last January after an investigation prompted by his girlfriend finding multiple pornographic images involving children on his iPad. In September, he pleaded guilty to three level 4 felonies for child exploitation. Per the plea agreement, two other charges for possession of child pornography as well as two related pending cases were dropped.
In October, he was sentenced in Floyd County to 10 years for each of the three charges, with the sentences to run consecutively. A level 4 felony can carry between two and 12 years each, with the advisory at six.
The 19-page appeal filed last week states that based on Brown's lack of criminal history, cooperation with the investigation and willing guilty plea, the court should have gone lower than the 30 years.
The appeal requests that his sentence either be revised to have all three run concurrently for a total of 10 years, or if consecutive, for each to be the advisory for a total of 18 years.
