Waco man sentenced to prison after he forced a girl to perform sex act in exchange for returning her cell phone

WACO, Texas (KWTX) - A Waco man who forced a 12-year-old family member to perform sex acts on him in exchange for returning her cell phone was sentenced to 15 years in prison Wednesday.

James Bakari Brown, 40, pleaded guilty to five counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child in exchange for a recommendation from the McLennan County District Attorney’s Office that he serve 15 years in prison.

Judge Susan Kelly of Waco’s 54th State District Court accepted the plea agreement and sentenced him to five, concurrent 15-year sentences.

Brown, a former grocery store employee, must be given credit for serving at least half of his term before he can seek parole.

According to an arrest reports, the girl, who lives out of state, reported Brown forced her to perform a sex act on him five or six times and also reported that he performed sex acts on her while she visited him from May 2016 to July 2016. The girl, who was 12 at the time, told investigators that Brown told her not to tell anyone or he would go to jail.

She told investigators Brown took the phone from her as a form of discipline, but would only return it when she performed sex acts on him.

The girl also reported the abuse to Brown’s girlfriend, an arrest affidavit alleges. Police interviewed the girlfriend, who admitted to coming home and finding the girl and Brown in bed together, according to the affidavit.