Ex-Catholic priest who sexually assaulted boys in Jasper County sentenced to 20 years

A former Savannah-area Catholic priest has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for repeatedly sexually assaulting two boys under the age of 14 at different locations in Jasper County between 1978 and 1988, according to a 14th Circuit Solicitor’s Office news release.

Wayland Y. Brown, 76, pleaded guilty Tuesday to nine counts of criminal sexual conduct with a minor, the release said.

The assaults took place when Brown — then a priest at St. James Catholic School in Savannah — took the two students to Jasper County on separate occasions and sexually assaulted them, The Island Packet previously reported. The victims were between ages 11 and 13 at the time of the assaults, the release said.

The victims said Brown wore his priest’s collar during the assaults and prayed the rosary afterward, according to the release.

The incidents took place at St. Anthony’s Catholic Church in Hardeeville, the Savannah National Wildlife Refuge in Jasper County and a train depot in Hardeeville, the release said.

The assaults were reported to law enforcement about two decades later after one of the victims underwent counseling, the release said. That sparked a 14-month investigation.

The Chatham County, Ga., District Attorney’s Office worked with the 14th Circuit Solicitor’s Office, which has jurisdiction over Jasper County, to investigate the case because, unlike Georgia, South Carolina has no statute of limitations for such accusations.

Brown was ordained in the Diocese of Savannah in July 1977 before eventually being dismissed by the Vatican from the priesthood in December 2004. That dismissal followed his guilty plead in Maryland to performing sex acts on a teenage boy and his younger brother between 1974 and 1977, the release said.

In 2016, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Savannah paid $4.5 million to settle a lawsuit filed against Brown after allegations that he sexually abused another boy, 13 — also a student at St. James — in Jasper County multiple times between August 1987 and May 1988.

This story was originally published October 23, 2018 at 3:34 PM.