Former deputy Ron Brown served more than two decades at the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office, in the jail, on patrol and as a detective, earning praise for his work investigating child sexual abuse.

Now he sits in a cell at the jail where he once booked criminals.

Brown was sentenced Friday to 10 days in jail and one year of probation in a case Deschutes County Deputy District Attorney Ali Filo called “an egregious violation of the public trust (that) will continue to impact the law enforcement community for years to come,” according to a memo filed in court Friday.

In November, Deschutes County Circuit Judge Annette Hillman found Brown guilty of official misconduct for transferring sexual pictures and videos of a man and his girlfriend to his personal cellphone while investigating the man’s suicide on Sept. 28, 2021.

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Later, while helping this woman recover her belongings during an eviction, Brown directed her into his patrol car, where authorities say he was watching pornography and had an erection.

“Our office is extremely embarrassed,” Sheriff’s Lt. Ty Rupert, a longtime friend of Brown’s, said during Brown’s sentencing hearing at Deschutes County Circuit Court on Friday.

Rupert apologized to the victim and said: “I don’t have ill will or bad feelings toward Ron Brown, but unfortunately, as a police officer, when you are held accountable you should be held to a higher standard than the average citizen.”

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In the sentencing memo, which sought to send Brown to jail, Filo wrote about “numerous incidents of sexually inappropriate conduct” contained in a 75-page police report about Brown, which was authored by Oregon State Police Detective Lori Rosebraugh.

Once, he made sexually inappropriate comments to a female deputy and “was initially held back from being promoted to sergeant,” Filo wrote.

In 2014, a sheriff’s office colleague was asleep during a work trip in Las Vegas in a room that had an adjoining door with Brown’s. She awoke to Brown “pacing back and forth, in front of the open adjoined door, while ‘obviously masturbating,’” Filo wrote. She could hear pornography playing from his television, Filo wrote.

“At one point, (Brown) actually walked into her room and hovered over her,” Filo wrote, but the woman pretended to be asleep.

The woman told “several people” but didn’t report the incident to the sheriff’s office because she was a single mother who needed the job, Filo wrote.

“His behavior … (was) representative of someone who thrives on power and control,” Filo wrote. “He used that power and control to create a misogynistic environment where women were reduced to objects of sexual gratification.”

Brown’s defense attorney, Julio Vidrio, denied these allegations in court Friday. Only one resulted in criminal charges. Brown’s defense attorneys did not return a call seeking comment Monday.

“Ron Brown preyed on someone he thought no one would believe,” Filo wrote.

The victim in his latest case, Heather Miller, acknowledged in a letter to the court: “I think the others were too afraid to come forward, or that maybe they didn’t have the credibility so they just let it fall.”

Miller didn’t.

Filo read Miller’s letter in court, providing details about her life. She moved to Central Oregon in 2017. There, she wrote, “my life changed forever.” She found herself caught in a cycle of domestic violence. She stayed in hotels to flee the abuse. She had four nose surgeries from injuries sustained in fights, she said.

“I was manipulated and confused by the emotional roller coaster,” she said.

But she loved her boyfriend, and it was clear he was struggling with his mental health, too. “I wish that I could have taken away the pain he must have felt,” she said.

Brown’s actions after her boyfriend’s suicide left a lasting impact on Miller’s trust in law enforcement. She said she is fearful of law enforcement and will hesitate calling them in time of need. She hasn’t been able to properly grieve the loss of her loved one. But she thanked the people who believed her, including state police detective Rosebraugh.

“I’m glad I did what I did and stood up against the Deschutes County Sheriff’s (Office),” she wrote “Knowing that he will not use his badge as an assault on civil rights anymore gives me peace,” she added.

In court, Brown said the criminal case has cost his finances, career and retirement. He asked the court not to send him to jail because then he’d lose his job and home.

“I have to accept the court’s decision,” he said. “However, I just believe there are things in life that have been misconstrued or misunderstood … I’m sorry for anybody’s pain that was caused.”

Before imposing her sentence, Judge Hillman noted that police officers are held to a higher standard than other citizens, “and for good reason.” She noted that they are entrusted to enforce laws, protect victims and investigate crimes.

“You made so many mistakes,” Hillman said. “And each one you made compounded on the other. There’s nothing worse than having a police officer in front of you — an ex-police officer — who’s been accused of misconduct.”

After Hillman’s comments, Brown’s former co-workers placed him in handcuffs.