Illinois man sentenced for child sexual abuse in Beloit
MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) - An Illinois man will spend the next 33 years of his life in the Wisconsin prison system after he was found guilty of sexual abuse of a child in May.
Ethan Brown of Rockford, Illinois, was sentenced Friday to 20 years behind bars and 13 years extended supervision.
Rock County District Attorney’s Office officials said that in 2017 and 2018, then-17-year-old Brown travelled from Illinois to Beloit for gatherings of friends and extended family. During these events, officials said Brown brought a seven-year-old girl into a basement and molested her.
The victim told her mother what had happened in 2025.
The Beloit Police Department, led by Child Maltreatment Officer Dylann Rauch and Detective Eric Shoonover, investigated the case, and found that two other children from the gatherings made similar statements. They alleged that Brown had taken them into the basement to “play” before touching or fondling them, police said.
Brown was ultimately charged with child enticement and two counts of child sexual assault. Brown was found guilty of all three counts on May 6.
A victim spoke at the sentencing hearing, saying “Sharing my story gives me some sense of purpose because it means I am not only protecting myself, but possibly protecting others as well.”
While Brown’s attorney asked for probation, highlighting that Brown was 17 at the time of the assaults, Judge Derrick Grubb handed down the 33 year sentence, telling Brown “You’re a sex offender, Mr. Brown. You show no remorse even as you sit here to be sentenced.”
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