Crime Fix with Angenette Levy - Pastor's Son Impregnates 13-Year-Old: Sheriff

Episode Date: July 24, 2026

Dawson Brown, 26, faces charges of human trafficking and sexual battery in Mississippi. Detectives with the Pearl River County Sheriff's Office say they got a tip that Brown had sex with a 13-year-old girl last fall and the teen became pregnant. Now Brown's mother, Sabrina Brown, is accused of tampering with evidence. And the girl's mother, Kendrell Bowden, is charged with human trafficking. Law&Crimes Angenette Levy goes through the case in this episode of Crime Fix — a daily show covering the biggest stories in crime.Host:Angenette Levy  https://twitter.com/Angenette5Guest: John CluneCRIME FIX PRODUCTION:Head of Social Media, YouTube - Bobby SzokeSocial Media Management - Vanessa BeinVideo Editing - Daniel CamachoGuest Booking - Alyssa Fisher & Diane KayeSTAY UP-TO-DATE WITH THE LAW&CRIME NETWORK:Watch Law&Crime Network on YouTubeTV: https://bit.ly/3td2e3yWhere To Watch Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3akxLK5Sign Up For Law&Crime's Daily Newsletter: https://bit.ly/LawandCrimeNewsletterRead Fascinating Articles From Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3td2IqoLAW&CRIME NETWORK SOCIAL MEDIA:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lawandcrime/Twitter: https://twitter.com/LawCrimeNetworkFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lawandcrimeTwitch: https://www.twitch.tv/lawandcrimenetworkTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lawandcrimeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The adult son of a Mississippi preacher is in jail accused of impregnating a 13-year-old girl, and he's not the only one facing charges right now. Two women are also allegedly implicated in this horrific crime as the sheriff claims they tried to cover up the whole thing. I'm Annionette Levy, and this is crime fix. A community in Pearl River County, Mississippi has been absolutely rocked by scandal as at least three people face charges in connection with a young girl's pregnancy. One of those people is the man, 27-year-old Dawson James Brown. He's charged with one count of statutory rape, two counts

of sexual battery and one count of human trafficking. And two women also face charges. The other two people are the mother of the teen, and Dawson's own mother, Sabrina Brown, faces charges of conspiracy to commit tampering with physical evidence and child neglect. Meanwhile, 32-year-old Kendrell Bowden, who appears to go by Kenna on her Facebook page, is charged with human trafficking and contributing to the neglect or delinquency of a child. And as the investigation continues, it's possible that Dawson's father, Pastor Michael Brown, could also potentially face charges. The Pearl River County Sheriff's Office confirmed to the local outlet, WLOX that Sabrina is married to Michael, who's a preacher at New Heights College Heights Baptist Church

in Poplarville. Dawson is their son. I'll delve more into Pastor Brown in just a moment. But here's what we know about how all of this unfolded. An anonymous tip came into the Mississippi Department of Child Protective Services that a now 14-year-old girl was pregnant and that a man may be the father of the baby. That tip was referred to the Pearl River, County Sheriff's Office at the end of June. According to investigators, they determined the teen was 13 and living with the Brown family when she got pregnant in the fall of 2025 and was reportedly around 33 weeks pregnant when the tip came in. Affidavits filed with the court provide details about what the investigation has uncovered. The document reads, the reporting party advised that

the teen was pregnant and identified Dawson James Brown as the alleged father of the unborn child. During the course of the investigation, investigators obtained custody of an Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max belonging to the teen. A search warrant was secured and subsequently executed on the device. During the forensic examination of the phone, investigators located multiple image and video files within the hidden folder of the photos application. These files depicted Dawson, James Brown, and the teen engaging in sexual intercourse. Investigators also located new electronic communications between the teen and other individuals discussing her pregnancy and identifying Dawson James Brown as the father of the unborn child. On July 14th, investigators interview Kendrell Bowden about her teen daughter's pregnancy, and here's what her affidavit says. Bodin stated that she became aware of the pregnancy when the teen requested to move back into her residence. Bowden advised that the teen refused to identify the father of the child or provide her. provide details regarding the circumstances of the pregnancy. Investigators and MD CPS personnel subsequently

conducted a minimum facts interview of the teen who acknowledged that she knew the identity of the father, but refused to disclose that information. But just three days later, on July 17th, Bowden revealed she knew more than she had originally said. Quote, during the interview, Bowden advised she had not told investigators everything on July 14, 2026 because she was scared. She stated Dawson James Brown had personally admitted to her that he was the father of the teen's unborn child. Bowden further stated that she communicated with Dawson James Brown, Michael Brown, and Sabrina Brown through her cellular telephone regarding matters related to the teen, her pregnancy, and Dawson James Brown's involvement. And there was more. From the affidavit, Bowden advised that on or about June 3rd,

2006, Dawson James Brown sent her a message asking whether she thought he needed to leave the country. Bowden also stated that after Dawson James Brown disclosed his involvement in the teen's pregnancy, he provided her with money, took her to a Mississippi State University sporting event, allowed her to use his vehicle, and provided other favors. Bowden further advised that Dawson James Brown inquired about bringing the teen to Alabama and that she was willing to allow the teen to travel with him. Bowden stated that she had personal knowledge of the sexual relationship between Dawson James Brown and the teen, including knowledge that the teen had become pregnant as a result of that

relationship. Despite this knowledge, Bowden allowed Dawson James Brown continued access to and contact with the teen on multiple occasions and did not report the relationship to law enforcement or other authorities. You know, it's truly sickening to think that a mother, would ever offer up her own daughter in exchange for sports tickets and access to a car, but that is the allegation we have here. So what about Sabrina, Dawson's mom, and the purported grandmother of the unborn baby?

Her own affidavit reads, in part, digital messages found on this device between the teen and Sabrina Brown appear to reveal that she attempted to coerce, direct, and instruct the teen how they could falsify information to investigators and to fabricate and, to fabricate, provide a false document to investigators regarding Dawson's DNA. Messages on this device also appear to show that Sabrina was informed by both the teen and Dawson that Dawson was the father of the teen's unborn child. Now, according to the school's website, Sabrina Brown was a longtime educator at Pearl River Community College, reportedly teaching classes on psychology. It's been reported that the college cut ties with her. We're still trying to work that out and confirm that. No official statement just

yet. And what about Sabrina's husband, Pastor Michael Brown? Affidavits indicate that Bowden also included him in some of the communications about the pregnancy. But as of this recording on Friday, he is not facing any criminal charges. The church where he's a pastor, New Heights, College Heights Baptist Church in Poplarville appears to have taken down both its website and Facebook page. But we grabbed a screenshot of a statement from earlier this week, which reads in part, the leadership of College Heights Baptist Church is aware of the serious allegations that have become the subject of an ongoing law enforcement investigation involving members of our pastor's family. First and foremost, we affirm our unwavering commitment to the protection and care of children, vulnerable individuals,

and anyone who may be the victim of abuse or exploitation. We stand with our community in supporting the pursuit of truth and justice, and we believe every allegation of this nature deserves to be thoroughly and professionally investigated. The statement goes on to say, we recognize that this situation has brought concern, heartache, and many questions to our church family and the broader community. We ask for prayer for all those affected by this matter, including anyone who suffered harm, the families involved in our church family and the investigators, attorneys and officials entrusted with carrying out their responsibilities with integrity, wisdom, and impartiality. As a pastor, Michael Brown, would be a mandatory reporter in the state of Mississippi on top of that.

According to his Facebook page, he was an investigator with the Biloxi Police Department years ago. So could he face criminal consequences if detectives can prove he had knowledge of what was going on? That's something deputies are likely looking into right now. The sheriff also told WLOX that the department is aware of rumors circulating online that the church actually held a baby shower for the teen. The sheriff says that's another aspect of the investigation they're trying to get to the bottom of. So to dig into this case, I want to bring in John Clune. He's a former sex crimes prosecutor, also a civil sexual abuse attorney right now.

John, thanks so much for coming on. Happy to be here. Good morning. Good morning. Talk to me, if you would, about your reaction upon digging into this case a little bit and reading the documents. It's it. I know when I looked at it, when I saw the headline, it, I kind of, my head snapped back. I was shocked. Yeah. I mean, this is one of the more disturbing cases I think I've seen in some time. I mean, the sexual abuse is awful. And the pregnancy is awful as both have lifetime impacts on a kid of this age. I think what stood out to me is these are what sounds like all of the caregivers in her life that are committing these crimes and helping cover up these crimes. that there's a level of complexity to that type of trauma for a kid that age that is impossible to overstate. No doubt. They are all innocent until proven guilty, of course, but the allegations here are incredibly disturbing.

Let's break that down a little more. We have the 13-year-old girl who authorities say they received a tip about, and the girl became pregnant in the fall of 2025. While she was 13, she's currently 14. And it sounds like from everything we're gathering that she was living with the Brown family. They were, they were her almost like an extended family. And then she becomes pregnant by their adult son. I mean, I just can't wrap my head around that. Yeah, it'll be, it'll be interesting. One of the questions I had is, excuse me, why, why is she living in that house in the first place?

you know, was there some sort of, was this part of the trafficking or was this just an opportunistic individual that took advantage of the fact that for whatever reason she was staying in the residence of this past year? I mean, the mother is still obviously involved in the child's life as somewhere, you know, reasonably close by. She's involved in some of the crimes that are charged. So, yeah, my initial thought is why is she there in the first place? Very good question.

You know, there are text messages that the detective site where it's discussed that this teenager wants to move back in with her mother. And then there's an exchange, according to the detectives, of money, tickets to sporting events, use of a car. I mean, that's where the trafficking part of this comes in. Right. I mean, you know, it'll be interesting. You know, the prosecution will have to have to try to link that up.

I mean, is that, you know, whether it's money, use of a car, sports tickets, whatever whatever the event was, you know, was that done in exchange for access to the child? That's how it's being presented in the documents and the news reporting thus far, is that that's the trafficking, is you do these things for me and allow you to continue to have access to the child. whether or not it links up that cleanly in the actual evidence, and it may not be the case, and so that will be a significant issue going forward, getting ready for trial.

That's a very good question, because I think that will be a key point. And my question really is, why was this girl even living with this family? Did they have some sort of custody of her, or did the bio-mom say, yeah, you can just stay there? you know, it's a nice house, nice place, nice family, or whatever. I mean, that's a key question here. Like, why is this girl even at their house living with them in the first place?

Yeah, and sometimes we see, you know, situations where either a parent is overwhelmed or a child is struggling in the relationship with the parent is contributing to the struggles. And so you'll see in all sorts of scenarios where a kid may be staying with like a family friend or in this case, somebody that they maybe know through church. So it could be something that, at least at the outset, seemed like a constructive, you know, a placement for the child, but that may be giving, you know, too much credit where it's not due.

We'll definitely need to know more about about what that scenario was intended for. Let's talk about the church aspect of this. James Dawson Brown, or Dawson James Brown, is the son. of Michael Brown who is a pastor at a Baptist church in Poplarville and you know he's been implicated in some respects in this in the probable cause affidavits being a part or having knowledge about this this issue of the pregnancy of his son you know

allegedly getting the girl pregnant he would be a mandatory reporter in any state even if it's your son so How does that complicate all of this? Yeah, so at least at this point, he hasn't been charged. Correct. So it seems like at least at this point, they don't have that information, at least concretely, that he had the information that, you know, the offenders, the accused, I should say, mother had. You know, like you said, he would be a mandatory reporter.

So even if he's, you know, a church official, I mean, because he's a church official, if he had information about the abuse, it would have had to be reported. But this whole issue of the church is interesting to me. I think that, you know, as parents, you know, one of the things that we see in child sex assault cases all the time is it's not just the kids that get groomed. It's parents that get grouped by adults that seem to be trusted individuals. It could be a neighbor. It could be a youth pastor.

It could be a teacher. Somebody that seems to be showing, you know, genuine interest in our kids. And, you know, we, but we hear all the time about, you know, church-related child sexual abuse cases. And like, there's a takeaway, you know, for parents when they read these stories, it's the understanding that these are all situations, or I shouldn't say all,

but many of these situations are situations where the parent did not suspect at the outset that the church-related official was somebody who could have done something like this, but they're presenting in a way that, you know, seems to care for the child, And yet we still kind of trust our kids in scenarios, in this scenario, even having a kid live with these individuals, when really that trust is not something that's earned just because they're affiliated with the church.

And that's the thing is we tend to let our guard down when it's kind of a more trusted institution, whether it's a school or a church or that sort of thing. And quite often, as we see time and time again, those are the scenarios that offenders actually seek out because it puts them in a position where they have access to kids. No doubt. And I think people do see that. They see somebody involved with the church, think, oh, it would be a great family, nice family. But we've seen time and time again, John, members of the church, whether it's the Catholic Church or other churches who've taken advantage of their positions or, you know, not lived up to practicing what they preach. So let's talk a little bit more about this teenage girl now. because, you know, I hope to God she's with a foster parent or somebody who can give her some guidance. I'm thinking to myself, we have a 14-year-old who's probably about ready to give birth, if she hasn't already. My God, what do you do there?

What happens? Like, what happens if you have a 14-year-old girl in foster care and she gives birth? I mean, do you just keep her with the baby? or I don't even understand how that unfolds. She should be getting ready to go back to school and not raising a baby. Yeah, I mean, she doesn't have the capacity to care for this child right now. So what most likely will happen is that she'll be, you know, taken into the child, will be taken in the custody of social services.

When I say the child, I mean the baby. The mother is actually a child as well who also may be in the custody of social services. So it's a very, very complex situation. Both the mother and the baby will likely be. in some sort of, you know, state custody while they figure out whether it's, you know, fostering or I don't know if this child has other family, not her mother, that has the ability to be of help, but that's another scenario that could play out in terms of replacement for both the mother, 14-year-old, and the baby.

Another disturbing part of this, John, is just the fact that there's an allegation here in the documents that the girl wanted to move back in with her mom. And it doesn't sound like, like maybe, I don't know if mom really even wanted that. So that's another piece of this that's pretty concerning. Yeah, it's hard to know. And I think it goes back to my original point. I think that what is so difficult about this scenario is all the people in this young woman's life, this child's life, that she should be turning to for care and support or guidance,

at least according to the allegations, are the people that are, you know, responsible for some pretty significant harm. Just really terrible, really terrible. What do you see lying ahead in this case? I mean, Dawson, James Brown, is still in jail. He was considered a flight risk. They said they have text messages where he was telling the girl's mother, you know, maybe I should leave the country and things of that nature.

And it appears that he may actually have another child still trying to work to confirm that. So, I mean, he's going to be in jail until his trial, at least. They're not going to let him out if he's texting about possibly leaving the country. Yeah, it seems like he's in a bond-wise. He's in a difficult situation. I don't know if Mississippi allows for a permanent denial of bond through trial. But if he's ever eligible for a bond, it's going to be a significant bond. I mean, he's looking at, you know, if these crimes were stacked consecutively,

he's looking at a minimum of 80 years with the maximum being multiple life sentences. So the combination of the severity of the charges against him and the fact that he was texting about leaving the country, even if he does, even he is eligible for bond, I would imagine it's going to be so high that bonding out is not going to be an option for him. And then as he goes through trial, I mean, you know, this is an unusually strong case. I mean, the fact that we have, you know, the videos and images of the actual sexual abuse, and then, you know, some of the text messages that at least one describes as like an admission to the child's mother that he was the father of the child.

It doesn't matter if he tries to say it's consensual. She's only 13 at the time that that happened. You can't consent at that age. So that one charge alone is 20 years to life. So it seems like he's probably not going anywhere for. for the foreseeable or any future. And this is just the beginning of the case. More charges actually could be coming as they continue to investigate because this is in

the Justice Court right now. And so it'll eventually move to, I believe, the circuit court down there once he's indicted. But they could add possibly, you know, they could add charges for child sex abuse material since the videos, they said they found these videos. Yeah, they certainly could. and they have some of that charged as under their human trafficking statute right now. But, you know, a lot of times as you work through a child sexual assault case,

you learn of more crimes, more instances of sexual abuse. And so it wouldn't be surprising at all if there are additional charges. The ones he's facing right now are significant to keep him in prison for the rest of his natural life. But there certainly could be more. Yeah, I just, it's confounding to me that the allegation is that, they tried to cover this up, talked about falsifying DNA test results. It doesn't matter. If the cops are going to find out, they're going to do a DNA test. You can falsify this stuff all you want. So just that that piece of this puzzle, too, is really shocking.

Yeah, and according to the allegations, they also were recruiting her to help them with the cover up, which is another, you know, layer of trauma on top of that. The message from the people who are responsible for her care, her own mother, the message is in this kind of scenario, you should help the adults not, you know, not the word concerned about yourself. I mean, I think that with these child sex abuse cases, I think we always hope that if at some point somebody, some adult learns of what happened, then maybe it'll stop. And the message to this kid is that when the adults did learn about it, not only did it not stop, It continued. There was some potential exchange for money and then she was enlisted to help them get away with it.

It couldn't be more harmful messaging from a mental health standpoint for a trauma survivor. No, it's just awful. Well, I just hope the best for this child and the baby. And we're going to keep an eye on this. Thank you so much, John Clune, for coming on. You're welcome. Thank you. Kendrell Bowden was given a $160,000 bond, which appears someone, posted for her and she's since been released from jail. Sabrina Brown posted her own $10,000 bond and was also released. Dawson Brown, on the other hand, won't be getting out, at least not for the time being.

A judge at a hearing earlier this week agreed with the assessment that he could be a flight risk, pointing to the alleged message that he sent to Bowden asking if he should try to leave the country. So we're going to keep a close eye on this case and let you know what happens. That's it for this episode of Crime Fix. I'm Ann Janette Levy. Thanks so much for being with me. I'll see you back here next time.