Largo Puppeteer to Make Child Porn Plea Deal

The Largo puppeteer accused of chatting online about killing, cooking and eating a child plans to plead guilty to possessing child pornography and could spend up to 10 years in jail, the Tampa Bay Times reports.

Ronald William Brown, 57, has signed an agreement to plead guilty in federal court to possessing and receiving child pornography, according to the Times.

Brown's attorney told the Times it's likely that Brown will serve between about 6 1/2 and 10 years in prison, according to federal court guidelines. But under the plea deal, Brown will escape a more serious charge of conspiring to kidnap a child and a much harsher sentence.

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Brown provided puppet and marionette shows to local children around the Tampa Bay area for many years through his Puppets Plus business.

He was accused in July by federal agents of conspiring to kidnap a child at his church, talking online about cooking and eating children and having child pornography at his Whispering Pines residence.

Criminal complaint documents showed Brown allegedly chatted online with a Kansas man last year about kidnapping and eating children, describing how they would abduct them and cook their body parts on a stove.

The case shocked members of Gulf Coast Church, where Brown had volunteered for years in the children's ministry.

But Brown was indicted by a federal grand jury on just one count of possessing child pornography and one count of receiving child pornography. Brown's mobile home had been searched twice by federal agents, who said they found images of child pornography, children engaged in bondage and images of what appear to be dead children.

Brown has maintained his innocence, with his attorney saying Brown never intended to hurt a child.

Under the plea agreement, Brown would have to register as a sex offender, the Times reports.

More coverage:

• Largo Puppeteer Waives Bail Hearing
• Puppeteer's Home Searched Again in Child Porn Case
• Puppeteer's Child Porn Arrest Shock's Local Church
• Largo Puppeteer Claims Innocence in Child Porn Case