Briton 'flew to US to prevent child abuse'

A British man accused of travelling to the US to have sex with children told authorities that he had changed his mind, and instead he flew to Minnesota to talk his fiancee out of their plan to molest young girls.

John David Michael Brewer, 39, from Plymouth, made the comments during an interview with authorities after his December 13 arrest at Minneapolis-St Paul International Airport.

The videotaped interview was shown yesterday during his trial on a charge of aggravated sexual abuse.

Evidence concluded in the trial yesterday. Neither Brewer nor his fiancee, Molly Parent, of Rice Lake, Wisconsin, testified. Closing statements are scheduled for today.

Brewer previously had served three years probation in Britain for indecently assaulting a five-year-old child.

“I want to get away from all that,” Brewer told customs agent Mark Kelly Henderson. “I want to have a happy, normal relationship with my fiancee.”

Those statements were not recorded in Mr Henderson’s report when Brewer was arrested.

“The best thing in this trial is the fact that there was a camera that videotaped the interview of Mr Brewer,” defence lawyer Scott Tilsen said. “At least the jury will have a completely unbiased view of what was said.”

More than 500 pages of emails were also introduced as evidence.

Many of the messages – mostly from Parent to Brewer – contained several references to sex with children, including at least one reference discussing Brewer’s trip to the US, according to Immigration and Customs Special Agent David Whereatt.

Few of Brewer’s outgoing messages were saved.

It appears none of the children referenced in those emails match photos found in Brewer’s luggage when he was arrested. In addition, a police investigation in Rice Lake found no evidence that any children had been abused by Parent.

The defence argued that Brewer and Parent were role-playing based on sexually explicit books found in the Briton’s luggage, pointing out similarities between names and references to page numbers referred to in Parent’s e-mails.

But the video shows that Brewer appears to believe that the children Parent refers to are real, and that she had sexual contact with them.

Both Mr Henderson and Mr Whereatt testified that Brewer never said the children were made up, and he never indicated that he and Parent had created a fantasy world.