Court document outlines attack on 10-year-old boy in bathroom

By KATU.com Staff Published: Jul 10, 2012 at 5:08 PM PDT
Court document outlines attack on 10-year-old boy in bathroom
Adam Lee Brown in court. (KATU photo)

PORTLAND, Ore. – Court documents released on Tuesday afternoon lay out what prosecutors say happened during an attack on a young boy inside a Portland fast food restaurant.

Multnomah County Deputy District Attorney Heidi Moawad wrote in an affidavit that the victim’s family was returning from a camping trip on July 1 when they stopped at a tire store on NE Sandy Blvd.

The store was closed and their 10-year-old son needed to use the bathroom, so he went next door to a Wendy’s restaurant. He was accompanied by his 17-year-old cousin, according to the affidavit.

The boy told officers that when he walked into the bathroom at the Wendy’s, a man followed him in and locked the door. Police have said that man was Adam Lee Brown, a registered sex offender.

The boy said Brown took out a knife and ordered him to strip, according to the affidavit.

When Brown starting to touch him, the boy told officers he fought back, Moawad wrote.

Brown stabbed the boy during the fight, investigators said. The boy managed to break the knife at one point, but was stuck in the bathroom for about ten minutes.

When the boy’s father noticed his nephew and son had been gone for a while he went to check on them. He found his nephew outside with the family dog then heard a commotion when he went inside, including hearing his son scream, according to the affidavit.

That’s when the father began pounding on the door while asking people to help him. The father said the door opened briefly and he saw Brown naked and covered in blood, Moawad wrote. The door then slammed shut again.

The father was about to try to break the door down when it opened again and his son ran out to safety. Moawad wrote that the boy was also naked and bloody.

Once the boy was safe, other patrons helped hold the door shut until police could arrive.

Moawad wrote that the boy was stabbed six or seven times, including three times in the neck. One of those wounds damaged a muscle that required surgery to fix.

The other injuries were not as serious.

The boy also told investigators he was strangled by Brown during the altercation, according to the affidavit.

Police cleared out the restaurant when Brown told them he had a .45 caliber gun and three bullets, Moawad wrote. Officers said they tried to coax him to give up the gun, but Brown said he needed “protection.”

He also told officers he would surrender if he was given 30 minutes to “meditate,” according to the affidavit. He also told officers he was not interested in being killed by them.

At one point, Brown asked for a phone to call his parents and inform them he was heading back to prison, according to the affidavit. He was not given the phone.

When police asked him why he was going to prison, he said “well it looks suspicious … because I hurt the kid,” according to the affidavit.

Moawad wrote that she also spoke to fire investigators, who said Brown lit several paper towels and toilet seat covers on fire while in the bathroom.

The fire investigator found the burned paper, two lighters and a bottle of baby oil, according to the affidavit.

Read more background on this case and about Adam Lee Brown’s history as a sex offender