2 men charged with sex trafficking, assault in Chester, Montgomery counties

WILLISTOWN TWP., Pa. -- Two men, one from Montgomery County and one from Chester County, face sex trafficking, child pornography, and sex assault charges, officials say.

On Thursday, the Chester County District Attorney's Office and Willistown Township Police Department announced the arrests of 57-year-old Lawrence Jamieson, Jr. of Malvern and 25-year-old John Brown of Norristown.

On August 1, the Willistown Police Department received a report about child sexual abuse.

Police obtained a search warrant for Jamieson's home. They recovered approximately 1,000 DVDs, thumb drives, and other electronic storage devices.

Police say the devices contained over 50,000 images and videos. At least 5,000 of the images and videos allegedly depict naked children, sexually explicit images of children, and adults sexually assaulting children.

Police say one of the recovered images displayed the name of a girl and a local high school.

The police then conducted an interview with the girl and others, as well as reviewed the electronic devices.

As a result, officials say they discovered the full scope of the operations of the suspects.

"This case shows the full developmental cycle of child predators. They start with possession of child pornography. They next move to creating and distributing child pornography. Finally, they take the ultimate step to sexually assaulting and even trafficking children. Each act is a link in the chain of misery that is child sexual abuse," Chester County District Attorney Hogan said in a statement.

According to officials, Jamieson, who runs a construction company, introduced the victim to Brown, who works for a tire company, in 2015.

The alleged victim was 15 years old at the time.

Officials say Jamieson and Brown told the victim that Brown was a 17-year-old cyber school student. Brown was 23 years old at the time.

They say Brown changed his appearance to look younger.

Officials say Brown entered into a sexual relationship with the victim. Jamieson and Brown then both began engaging in sexual activity with the victim.

They allegedly took pictures and videos of this sexual activity, stored them on the electronic devices, and exchanged them via text messages and email.

"Even after decades of serving in law enforcement, the scope and nature of these crimes are staggering. I have never seen as large a trove of child pornography in the history of Chester County, and the rest of the conduct is unspeakable. I do not know what kind of a depraved mind could possibly enjoy this sickening abuse of innocent children," Willistown Police Chief John Narcise said in a statement.

The alleged incidents took place at multiple locations in Willistown Township, Chester County, and Conshohocken, Montgomery County between 2015 and July 2016.

The charges against both suspects include sex trafficking in minors, sexual abuse of children for creating and possessing child pornography, sexual assault, conspiracy, and related charges.

Both were committed to Chester County Prison after failing to post bail.

"Evil exists, even in places we least expect it. We are concerned that there may be other victims out there. Anybody with information about either Lawrence Jamieson or John Brown should contact the Willistown Township Police Department immediately," District Attorney Hogan said in a statement.

Anybody with information may contact Willistown Detective Steve Jones at 610-251-0222.