TATE COUNTY, MS -- First it was child porn. Now a high-ranking Mississippi Boy Scout leader is accused of sexually abusing at least three children, all under the age of 15.
41-year-old William Todd Brewer made his first court appearance Tuesday, July 10th. The mothers of two victims made sure they had seats in the courtroom.
The charges against Brewer have tripled since his arrest last week. Investigators expect even more. One mother echoes that belief. She has only one thing to say to Brewer.
"Rot in hell, you sorry son of a b***h," says Jaquoya Fowler. Her son is one of three kids Brewer's accused of abusing. "He's a minor. He's 13 years old." A second victim is related. "There's been two victims in our household," she says.
Brewer walked into Tate County Justice Court with his head down, arms chained at his sides.
He's charged with possessing child porn and sexual battery of three different children, "Insertion of any object into any opening of another person or vice versa," says Sheriff Brad Lance.
Before his arrest, Brewer was a trusted member of the Boy Scouts in Northwest Mississippi. He worked as the Executive Director of the Chickasaw Council, overseeing scouts in five counties. Investigators are working overtime to see who he came into contact with.
"Conducting interviews, they're staying on the telephone constantly," Lance says investigators received a tip last week. After searching Brewer's home, they found child porn.
"We have, of course, one image that's the basis for the charge obviously. Until his computers, etc. any items able to store, disseminate, or produce that, until that's examined we won't know how many images." Or how many victims. As they keep digging, Lance expects to keep charging Brewer. As to how many more charges?
"I wouldn't even begin to speculate. I don't know," Lance says.
"This is a huge matter. It's just the beginning of this. It's going to go on for a while," Fowler says. She adds she had no idea he worked with scouts.
"We have never met Mr. Brewer." She says her son came into contact with him through "a roommate with two young boys and one boy was the age of our sons. That's how our kids got to know this man. They stayed the night with his friend not knowing this man was there. I had no clue. No clue."
Brewer is single. The sheriff's department confirms children and another adult lived in his home.
Brewer was fired from the Boy Scouts after his arrest was made public. The Boy Scouts are not conducting an internal investigation, but leaving that to sheriff's deputies.
Brewer is being held without bond. He faces up to life in prison.
