Montana State's PG Arrested Following SMU Game

[MrMustang1965]

The starting point guard on Montana State University's basketball team was arrested Tuesday morning and charged with raping a 15-year-old girl on three separate occasions.

Frank Charles Brown, 20, of Las Vegas, was suspended indefinitely, MSU Athletic Director Peter Fields said. He wouldn't comment further because "the case remains under investigation."

Brown appeared via video from jail Tuesday in Justice Court in Gallatin County. Judge Scott Wyckman set his bail at $20,000.

Brown, shackled and wearing an orange jumpsuit, said little at the hearing. He nodded his head when Wyckman told him he couldn't contact the victim or her family if he posts bond.

"Do you understand the charges filed against you?," Wyckman asked.

"Yes," Brown said.

His arrest came just hours after he scored 16 points Monday night in MSU's loss to Southern Methodist University at Brick Breeden Fieldhouse.

That same morning, he allegedly raped a girl, who he had known for more than a year, at his Remington Way apartment.

The victim told police that Brown and another MSU basketball player, Martrel Johnson, picked her up and took her to their home at about 11 p.m. Sunday.

She drank liquor with the players until she passed out, according to court records.

The next morning, she told her mother she didn't know whether she had sex with anyone. However, the victim said she felt pain in her vaginal area.

The girl was taken to Bozeman Deaconess Hospital where a doctor determined that the victim had sex within the last 24 hours. And the victim's symptoms were consistent with her statement to police that she was a virgin.

Bozeman Police Det. Sgt. interviewed Brown Tuesday morning.

Brown allegedly acknowledged he had sex with the victim twice Monday morning and told police "she appeared drunk during the evening and eventually vomited," according to police reports.

He told police he also had sexual contact with the girl on Nov. 17 and knew the victim was 15 years old.

Brown was subsequently arrested and charged with three counts of rape.

Under Montana law, a 15-year-old girl can't consent to sex, nor can anyone who is so intoxicated to be considered "mentally defective or incapacitated."

In court Tuesday, Deputy County Attorney Ashley Harrington said the accusations against Brown are not being disputed.

"We have extremely strong proof going to the three charges alleged here," Harrington said.

She said because Brown is accused of having sex with a 15-year-old girl who may have been unconscious his bail should be set at$20,000.

Brown's defense attorney, Bill Bartlett, pointed out that the suspect has no criminal record, attends class and is not a risk to flee the community.

Bartlett asked for $10,000 bond.

Wyckman, however, agreed to the state's recommendation.

"This is an incredible event," Wyckman said.

As of Tuesday afternoon, Brown remained in jail.

Besides announcing that he has been suspended, MSU wouldn't comment on the matter.

A representative from MSU, spokeswoman Annette Trinity Stevens, took notes at Brown's hearing. But, like Fields, said she couldn't comment further.

Brown, a junior from Las Vegas, started every game this year and last.

He will appear in District Court here in the coming weeks where he will most likely enter a plea to the charges.

If convicted of rape, the minimum penalty Brown faces is two years in prison and the maximum is life.

[jtstang]

This guy was probably a late qualifier.

[FloridaMustang]

what a dumb comment.

[EastStang]

It sounds like a statutory rape charge, but who knows. These stories are very disturbing.