Women of 5 Browns: We were molested by our dad, Keith Brown/ Father pleads guilty and receives 10 Years to life!

The siblings of the classical piano quintet known as The 5 Browns have been in fame’s spotlight for nearly a decade, known as members of a wholesome, inseparable family.

On Wednesday, the group’s three adult sisters publicly unearthed a family secret. Their father, they said, sexually abused them as children.

“We can confirm that Keith Brown has been charged with sexual abuse involving his daughters,” wrote Kimball Thomson, a spokesman for The 5 Browns, in a statement.

The Salt Lake Tribune generally doesn’t name victims of sexual abuse, but in this case, Thomson said the sisters — Desirae, 32, Deondra, 30, and Melody, 26 — consented to the release of their identities.

Prosecutors gave no indication of Brown’s alleged victims in charges filed last week in Utah’s 4th District Court. Brown, 55, is charged with one count of first-degree felony sodomy upon a child and two counts of second-degree felony sexual abuse of a child.

The charges indicate Brown engaged in sexual conduct with a child under the age of 14 between November 1990 and October 1992. Brown also sexually abused a child between March 1997 and March 1998, according to the charges.

A source close to the family told The Tribune the sisters called police after recently learning their father, who managed the quintet until 2008, planned to once again manage child musicians.

Paul Pollei, a piano professor emeritus from BYU, was surprised by the charges. He didn’t teach the Brown children, but he watched them grow up at musical competitions as the first piano quintet.

“It did come as a shock,” Pollei said Wednesday. “It always seemed like it was such a unified family.”

News of the charges came earlier this week following a single-car car crash involving Brown and his wife, Lisa.

The couple were hospitalized after the Porsche that Brown was driving plummeted 300 feet down a Little Cottonwood Canyon embankment and into a creek Monday night. Police have said Brown, who was driving his wife back from a Valentine’s Day dinner at Snowbird Ski and Summer Resort, was driving too fast for the area.

On Wednesday night, Brown and his wife remained in serious condition. Brown is scheduled for an initial court appearance Thursday.

Thomson said the Brown sisters are cooperating with local police and the Utah County Prosecutor’s Office. They won’t comment on the pending case, he said.

The 5 Browns don’t anticipate changes to their tour schedule, according to Thomson. The group is set to perform in Logan on Feb. 28 and March 1.

“One of the greatest sources of joy and satisfaction in each of their lives is the opportunity to share their favorite music together — and with fellow music lovers throughout the world,” Thomson said in the statement.

The statement also sent a message to the group’s fans: “The 5 Browns wish to thank their friends and supporters for their concern and prayers on their behalf during this trying time.”

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The father of the 5 Browns, a high-profile performing quintet of classical pianists, has pleaded guilty to sexually abusing his daughters when they were under 14. The father, Keith S. Brown, 55, entered his plea on Thursday in Fourth Judicial District Court in Provo, Utah. In an agreement with prosecutors, Mr. Brown pleaded guilty to a first-degree felony count of sodomy and two second-degree felony counts of sexual abuse of a child. He faces a sentence of 10 years to life in prison at sentencing on March 31.

The sisters — Desirae, 32; Deondra, 30; and Melody, 26 — said in a statement that they went to the authorities “out of concern for the welfare and protection of other young women and girls.” The three sisters and their brothers, Gregory, 29 and Ryan, 25, tour extensively and have released several compact discs. All studied together at the Juilliard School in New York and have been widely featured in the news, presented as wholesome young people eager to spread classical music.

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The three sisters in the acclaimed 5 Browns classical music group are praying for the recovery of their mother after she was seriously injured in a car crash with her husband, the group's spokesman said.

Kimball Thomson told KSL that Desirae, Deondra and Melody Brown have no immediate plans to talk about their parents after a tumultuous week that also saw their father plead guilty to sexually abusing them when they were children.

"The sisters are praying for a full and speedy recovery for their mother," he said. "They do not wish to comment about their parents other than that. The time is not right to talk about their relationship with their parents."

The three sisters and two brothers are part of the classical piano group The 5 Browns, whose albums have topped the classical music charts.

Their parents, Keith and Lisa Brown, crashed in a canyon outside Salt Lake City on Monday.

Keith Brown, 55, awaits sentencing March 31 after pleading guilty Thursday to charges of sexually abusing his daughters.

Lisa Brown, 54, was hospitalized after the Porsche driven by her husband plunged 300 feet in Little Cottonwood Canyon on the east side of the Salt Lake valley.

Thomson said the Juilliard-trained sisters can't comment on when, where and how their father went to his Mormon bishop to confess, but that they brought the allegations to the attention of police.

"They came forward because they heard their father might be working with or come into contact with other young women and girls" as clients or music students, he said.

The Associated Press does not generally identify people who say they were sexually abused. The Brown women have chosen to be identified and are cooperating with police, Thomson said.

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Even the perpetrator's own lawyer admits his acts were "reprehensible" and "deplorable."

So what led Keith Scott Brown to make surprise guilty pleas in a Provo, Utah, courtroom Thursday, capping a deal for the horrors against own children?

His journey to justice began last year when Brown, a Mormon, approached his bishop at the Church of Latter Day Saints to confess his crimes, his attorneys say. These crimes included abusing his daughters Desirae, 32, Deondra, 30, and Melody, 26, all members of the popular Julliard-trained quintet of siblings.

Brown pleaded guilty to sodomy on a child under 14, and two charges of sex abuse of a child, all felonies.

Prosecutors dismiss the claim that Brown, 55, revealed his own transgression. They say the abuse actually came to light only after his daughters reported their father's crimes to police when they discovered he planned to manage child musicians again.

Prolonged Negotiations

Starting about six months ago, Brown's defense team haggled with prosecutors over an appropriate punishment. Under today's stricter laws, Brown could have faced 25 years for the sodomy charge alone; instead, he'll likely serve 10 years to life under the statutes at the time the crimes were committed.

Deputy Utah County Attorney David Sturgill says Brown’s daughters consented to the plea agreement, reports the Salt Lake Tribune. "They wanted their father to take responsibility more than anything else," Sturgill said. "And they felt there should be a serious punishment."

Brown's attorney Steven Shapiro, who calls his client's acts "reprehensible," says Brown is ready to do his time for what he did.

"He's terribly remorseful for what has happened and what he's put his family through," the lawyer tells the Deseret News. He also tells ABC News that "this was the next step in a long process in attempting to accept responsibility for deplorable contact with his daughters that happened many years ago."

The plea removes the specter of a public trial and minimizes the harm to the family, he said.

The 5 Browns' spokesperson said Thursday that there is, at least, one consolation for the family: It's over.

"There is tremendous relief," Kimball Thomson said, according to ABC News. "The girls handled the situation with such integrity and courage."

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The couple were hospitalized after the Porsche that Brown was driving plummeted 300 feet down a Little Cottonwood Canyon embankment and into a creek Monday night. Police have said Brown, who was driving his wife back from a Valentine’s Day dinner at Snowbird Ski and Summer Resort, was driving too fast for the area.

You wouldn't have caught me going out to a Valentine's Day dinner with a man that abused my daughters! I have to wonder if the creep drove the car off the road on purpose on Monday so that he wouldn't have to go to court on Thursday and plead guilty to the abuse.

Seems to me that he was trying to get back at the girls for turning him by trying to kill thier mother. JMO

You could be right.....or maybe the two of them decided they didn't want to live with the shame. She obviously, by staying with him and dining with him, was supporting him on some level.

Slys Hunny wrote:Seems to me that he was trying to get back at the girls for turning him by trying to kill thier mother. JMO

How did either one of them come out alive?

Brown was charged on February 10, court records show, and just days later his Porsche plunged off a 300ft embankment as he returned from a ski resort on Valentine's Day with his wife Lisa.
Brown, 55, was driving, and wife Lisa, 54, the mother of the children, was in the passenger seat. The couple had been driving home from a ski resort when the accident occurred.
They were both knocked unconscious, but Brown woke up and managed to dial 911. The cause of the crash remains under investigation, but police said speed was a factor.
There were tyre marks on the road near the scene of the horror crash, investigators said.
The 5 Browns are a classical piano-playing group consisting of three sisters and two brothers from Alpine, Utah.
The children had visited their parents at hospitals and were hopeful for speedy recoveries, Mr Thomson said.
Their performance schedule would not be affected by the developments, he said.

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The abuse started in 1990 and ended in 1998. I haven't read when the abuse started with each of the girls, but in 1990 their ages were 5, 9 and 11. In 1998 they would have been 13, 17 and 19. I wonder if each of them thought they were the only one that was being abused by their father......maybe when they were all older they shared stories. I wonder if any of them told their mother?

I don't know, BJ, they may have tried to tell her and she just could not acknowledge the fact. She may have had an ideas, but stuck her head like an ostrich.
It is hard to believe she did not know, unless the abuser occurred when in hotels on the road.
I think it is so brave of them to stick together, come out with the truth of the abuse, to save new young musical students from his abuse.
Arrested Feb. 10th, Valentine's Day at dinner w/ wife. No way I would be having dinner with a man that was even suspected of abusing my children. So there is a possibility he was trying to do a murder suicide when he flew off the road? I sure hope the kids mother recovers from her injuries,then, they can get some family therapy w/their mom and hsave some closure.

I sure hope that this isn't another case of abuse that was covered up by the church and if the abuse was reported, while it was happening, it's difficult to believe that the mother of the girls wasn't aware. The girls may have reported it to their Bishop, rather than to LE, and the Bishop might not have wanted this famous musical group that had a connection to the Mormon Church involved in a scandal.
Again, always amazed, never surprised.

The father of the popular classical piano group “The 5 Browns” based in Utah, Keith Scott Brown, admitted on Thursday that he had sexually abused his three daughters when they were younger in the 1990s. His three daughters were also there in the Provo, Utah courtroom watching their father give his plead. His three daughters had previously accused him of sexual abuse when it was happening, but it reportedly went on afterward without Brown being charged.

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Sturgill said Brown engaged in sexual activity with one of his daughters, who, at the time, was under the age of 14, between November 1990 and October 1992.

During that same time period, Brown also fondled another daughter when she was under the age of 14, and he repeated the offense between March 1997 and March 1998.

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BJ wrote:I sure hope that this isn't another case of abuse that was covered up by the church and if the abuse was reported, while it was happening, it's difficult to believe that the mother of the girls wasn't aware. The girls may have reported it to their Bishop, rather than to LE, and the Bishop might not have wanted this famous musical group that had a connection to the Mormon Church involved in a scandal.
Again, always amazed, never surprised.



The father of the popular classical piano group “The 5 Browns” based in Utah, Keith Scott Brown, admitted on Thursday that he had sexually abused his three daughters when they were younger in the 1990s. His three daughters were also there in the Provo, Utah courtroom watching their father give his plead. His three daughters had previously accused him of sexual abuse when it was happening, but it reportedly went on afterward without Brown being charged.

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BJ,
Someone wasn't listening to the three girls when they reported the sexual abuse when it was happening. My opinion, it must have been either their Mother or the church who had the deaf ears. I really respect the daughters for coming forth again to report this so that other kids would not be hurt.
I wouldn't be surprised if the car accident wasn't an accident at all. Critter, I so agree with you, no way at all would I be out for a Valentines dinner with the man who was responsible for sexual assaulting all of my daughters! I so don't understand these women.

Father of 5 Browns gets into another car wreck

Three weeks ago, Keith Brown appeared in court with injuries from a serious car wreck and pleaded guilty to sexually abusing his musical-celebrity daughters.

Now he is recovering from yet another car wreck.

Police in Highland said Brown, father and former manager of the musical group The 5 Browns, was in a collision Thursday when he turned in front of another vehicle.

Police on Monday confirmed a crash report obtained and posted online by KSL. According to the Alpine-Highland police report, Brown, 55, was driving his BMW north on State Road 74 when he turned east onto State Road 92. A southbound driver was turning his Cadillac Escalade east at the same intersection, police wrote. Just east of the intersection, Brown’s car turned into the inside lane and was hit by the Escalade, a diagram shows.

Brown told officers he "did not remember" what happened after he turned right onto S.R. 92, police wrote.

The extent of his injuries in Thursday’s crash is not known. The 5 Browns’ spokesman, Kimball Thomson, said Keith Brown’s children had not heard about Thursday’s crash until Monday and they "wish both [drivers] a quick recovery."

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Sounds like this guy is trying to kill himself. What a selfish way to do it since he could take others out with him.

Id think it would be easier to grab a gun. He definatly doesnt want to live. Seems like he doesnt want anyone to think he killed himself thus the car accidents. Atleast he didnt have his wife with him this time. God must have other things in mind for him.

Bad enough he has freedom. He already said guilty. Why have 6 weeks of freedom? He should have been locked up the day he said guilty.

What a lunatic this Brown is!! I agree w/Sly...if he really wants to kill himself, he can use a gun. I don't see him spending the rest of his life behind bars. I think he will somehow do himself in BEFORE he goes to prison.

And the wife? OMG, she Had to know.

I am SO tired of these religious groups sweeping the TRUTH under the carpet.

I have very high praise for those three girls that did what they had to do. I think just the fact that they finally came out with this horrible secret will help them to heal.

I watched something the other night about someone that purposefully had two car accidents to try and kill his rich passenger. He was successful the second time. And the driver---a preacher!!!!!

A selfless act by the girls. Only to save others. Only after hearing he was going to manage other girls did they come forward. Heroes

I totally agree with you ctee1! They really are concerned for others.

charminglane wrote:I watched something the other night about someone that purposefully had two car accidents to try and kill his rich passenger. He was successful the second time. And the driver---a preacher!!!!!

As long as it was all done in the name of God...............

Musicians' dad gets 10 years to life for sex abuse

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The patriarch of the sibling piano group 5 Browns was sentenced to 10 years to life in prison by a judge in Provo, Utah for sexually abusing his daughters when they were children, a report said on Thursday.

Keith Brown, 55, was ordered to serve concurrent terms of 10 years to life in prison on a single count of sodomy on a child, and one to 15 years on two counts of sexual abuse of a child, the Salt Lake Tribune reported.

Brown pleaded guilty to the felony charges in February after nearly six months of negotiations with prosecutors. His three adult daughters publicly confirmed that they had been victimized by him during the 1990s.

The sisters -- Desirae, 32, Deondra, 30, and Melody, 26 -- are joined in the group by their brothers Ryan and Gregory. Their father formerly managed the group.

The plea deal, to which the sisters consented, meant that the sentences were at the lighter end of what Brown would have faced had he gone to trial and been convicted.

Fourth District Judge David Mortensen told Brown that he considered him a pedophile and a danger to society, he added that he was being given a lighter sentence "through the consent of your victims."

Deputy Utah County Attorney David Sturgill said Brown's daughters were abused for years and the abuse "has changed the course of their lives."

Of the sentence, Sturgill said, "This is what the victims wanted. ... I hope they're happy it finally came."

The 5 Browns rose to national prominence in 2002, and their three albums topped Billboard's classical chart. Even as the sex abuse saga unfolded, they kept up their busy touring schedule.
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What a relief, and my hat is off to the Brown women and what they endured. And even still, they accepted a plea deal.

Their mother bothers me Greatly. As stated upthread, she goes skiing with him when she knows he was sexually abusing his daughters?

Now, she is w/out her hubby. If getting into a suicidal auto accident w/him and suffering critical injuries didn't do it for her, I don't know what will.

She is most likely so wrapped up in her religious beliefs that she cannot see the forest for the trees. This is purely speculation and my opinion only.