Ex-coach gets life in prison for molestation

A Michigan judge has made sure a former Hanover Park gymnastics instructor who served time for molesting three girls he coached will never be around children again.

Bryan C. Brown, 39, was sentenced Tuesday to mandatory life in prison without the possibility of parole on a more recent child sex abuse conviction. Last month, a jury in suburban Detroit found him guilty of molesting his live-in girlfriend's 5-year-old daughter.

"We're very pleased he won't be able to hurt anyone else," Macomb County, Mich., Assistant Prosecutor Kathy Beard said.

Brown was eligible for life without parole, Beard said, because it was his second conviction for sexually assaulting a child under 13.

Brown also faces federal charges for sexual exploitation of children and possession of child pornography. That case will move forward, Beard said.

While living in Elk Grove Village in 1997, Brown was charged with molesting three girls at the Gymkhana Gymnastics Club in Hanover Park. He pleaded guilty in 1999 and was sentenced to eight years in prison.

Brown served nearly half of that before being released, but returned to prison following a parole violation. He was let out May 2005 and then moved to Michigan.

In April 2008, Brown was arrested on marijuana possession charges, according to Warren, Mich., police. The 5-year-old was taken into protective custody, where she told police about Brown's inappropriate contact with her.