SPRINGFIELD — A Ware man’s 10-year sentence in Hampshire Superior Court for child rape Tuesday will run concurrently with a 15-year federal prison sentence imposed last week for sexual exploitation of a child and sex trafficking.
On Tuesday, a Hampshire Superior Court judge sentenced Walter Brown, 74, to a term of 10 years following Brown’s guilty plea in November to two counts of aggravated rape and abuse of a child, 10-year age difference, according to the Northwestern district attorney’s office.
Brown had previously been sentenced Friday in U.S. District Court in Springfield by Judge Mark G. Mastroianni to 15 years in prison and five years of supervised release, according to the Massachusetts U.S. attorney’s office. Brown pleaded guilty in October to federal charges of conspiracy to commit sexual exploitation of a child, two counts of sexual exploitation of a child, conspiracy to commit sex trafficking and two counts of sex trafficking.
Brown’s co-defendant in both his federal and state cases, Claire Poole of Monson, was sentenced to 10½ years in federal prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit sex trafficking and two counts of sex trafficking. Poole was also sentenced to 8 to 8½ years in October on two counts of accessory before the fact of rape and abuse of a child under the age of 16, which will be served concurrently with her federal sentence.
Poole facilitated a sexual relationship between Brown and a teenage girl known to her in 2017. Brown had asked for the girl to provide pornographic videos and to have sex with him. Poole conveyed the offer and negotiations about pay to the girl, drove her to Brown’s home on two occasions and provided a cellphone which the girl used to produce the pornographic videos.
Brown’s federal crimes dealt with the pornography aspect of the case, according to the Northwestern district attorney’s office.
Michael Connors can be reached at mconnors@gazettenet.com.