Wis. man sentenced for drugging, assaulting women
MADISON, Wis. (AP) —
Brian Stowe sat with his head down as, one by one, three women walked to
the front of a Wisconsin courtroom and described their shock at finding
out their close friend had drugged them to the point of
unconsciousness, then sexually assaulted and photographed them.
The Madison resident
assaulted a total eight women over a three-year period, one of whom was a
17-year-old girl. After pleading guilty to 27 felony counts in
December, Stowe was sentenced Friday to the equivalent of a year per
count in state prison.
Dane County Circuit
Judge William Hanrahan said Stowe, 29, will first serve 15 years in
federal prison on a federal conviction of sexual exploitation of a
child. After that, Stowe will serve 27 years on the state felony counts —
16 counts of sexual assault and 11 counts of taking or possessing
sexually explicit images of his victims.
Stowe shook his head
each time his victims, the judge and prosecutor accused him of drugging
the women, and defense attorney Dennis Coffey said there was no proof
the women were drugged.
But the judge, whose
voice wavered as he described a "cold and calculated" series of attacks,
said he had no doubt that Stowe drugged the victims before the
assaults.
"The devastation ... is spread far and wide in this community and it makes us all feel less safe," Hanrahan said.
Police arrested Stowe
last year after the 17-year-old reported that he drugged and sexually
assaulted her as she lay unconscious in bed in October 2012, and took
photos and videos of it.
Madison police widened
the investigation, searching his apartment and finding images of more
women on his computer and other devices.
None of the women knew
Stowe had filmed them and expressed shock at the discovery of the
explicit content on Stowe's computer when police first contacted them.
Some of the victims worked with Stowe at Epic Systems, a health software
company in the Madison suburb of Verona. Prosecutors said photos of one
woman were taken during an out-of-state business trip in 2010.
Stowe's sentence
includes at least one year for each of the eight victims. Five victims
were in court Friday and one listened over the phone.
"He's not sorry he did
it, he's sorry he got caught and he's acting the way he thinks he
should," one victim said. The Associated Press doesn't generally name
victims of sexual assault.
The victims that spoke
each asked the judge to give Stowe a sentence that would include time
for each victim; some asked that he receive a life sentence.
Hanrahan read off a list of traits associated with psychopathy and said he believes most of them apply to Stowe.
"These were not mistakes," Hanrahan said. "... You have forfeited your right to walk freely among us for a very long time."
Before he was sentenced,
Stowe apologized to his victims, saying, "I'm not going to have the
normal life I would have had I not committed these acts. Please do see
the good that does exist in me."
Several of Stowe's
family members were in the courtroom but declined to speak after the
sentencing. His defense attorney declined to speak as well.
In October 2012, the
17-year-old told police that she and Stowe shared a cab home and that he
told her he'd take her home. Instead, she fell asleep in his apartment
after drinking a glass of water, she told the police.
U.S. District Judge
Barbara Crabb said during January's federal sentencing that at one point
during the video Stowe made that the girl asked Stowe, "What are you
doing?"
Prosecutors initially
charged Stowe, who has dual U.S. and British citizenship, with 62
felonies, but his plea deal reduced it to 27.
The state asked for a
sentence of 130 1/2 years, 84 1/2 in prison and 46 under extended
supervision. Stowe's attorney had asked for the minimum bail that would
protect the public and provide rehabilitation and punishment to Stowe.
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