Lansing man pleads guilty to sodomizing toddler

Kara Berg | Lansing State Journal

A Lansing man has pleaded guilty to sodomizing a 3-year-old.

Kevin Brown-Rios, 24, pleaded guilty, but mentally ill, to first-degree criminal sexual conduct causing injury to a 3-year-old. He'll have to spend a minimum of 15 years at the state Center for Forensic Psychiatry, under the terms of a plea bargain.

Brown-Rios initially told police he never touched the toddler, according to court documents. Later, he said he was giving the boy a prostate exam to see if he had cancer.

The incident happened on the Fourth of July 2016 when the toddler and his mother were at a barbecue at her grandmother's house in Lansing, the mother told police. After a fireworks show, she put her son to bed.

She ran to the store and was gone for less than 10 minutes, leaving her sleeping son with her grandmother.

When she came home, her son was crying. There was blood all over his backside, and Brown-Rios was sitting next to him in bed, she told police.

She scooped the boy up and called 911 but didn't wait for the ambulance. She set off walking toward the hospital herself, carrying her sobbing son. The ambulance intercepted them as they walked.

The State Journal does not typically identify victims of sexual assault.

Brown-Rios was initially found competent to stand trial in October 2016. A month later, he filed notice that he was going to use legal insanity as his defense.

The Center for Forensic Psychiatry found him incompetent in April 2017, and he was committed to the Saline facility. The center declared him competent in September.

The defense performed an independent medical exam, which found Brown-Rios to be mentally ill. He had told police in 2016 that he was schizophrenic and bipolar.

Brown-Rios' attorney, Peter Samouris, declined to comment on the guilty plea.

Brown-Rios will have to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.

Contact Kara Berg at 517-377-1113 or kberg@lsj.com. Follow her on Twitter @karaberg95.