Former Toledo Public Schools board candidate makes initial court appearance

9/26/2007

Richard Brown III, former Toledo Public Schools board of education candidate and a city employee, was led away in handcuffs this morning after his initial appearance in Lucas County Common Pleas Court on child endangering charges.

Mr. Brown, 34, of 1146 Hamilton St. is charged with four counts of child endangering and two counts of disseminating matter harmful to juveniles. This morning, he appeared with attorney Ronnie Wingate before Judge Linda Jennings.

Judge Jennings ordered a bond report and continued Mr. Brown s arraignment until the information was available. Mr. Brown was then escorted by court security to be fingerprinted and photographed.

Surrounded by family members, Mr. Brown has denied the allegations that he abused two brothers, now ages 16 and 18, that he met as a youth pastor at Friendship Baptist Church, 5301 Nebraska Ave. According to the prosecutor s office, two of the counts of child endangering involve coercing the boys into posing for inappropriate photographs and two of the counts involve corporal punishment.

Mr. Brown, who had previously been the endorsed Democrat for the Toledo Public Schools board, withdrew his candidacy Friday, just hours after the indictment was released. Employed by the city of Toledo as a deputy auditor overseeing the city s overhaul project, Mr. Brown has been suspended without pay pending the outcome of the criminal case.

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