Embattled attorney charged with sexual battery of child | Free News

An attorney from Jones County has landed in an unfamiliar role in a child-sex case — as the defendant.

Brandon Brooks, 45, of Moselle was charged with two counts of sexual battery after a family member accused him of making her watch pornography and perform sex acts with him numerous times over a span of approximately six years, according to the Jones County Sheriff’s Department report.

The investigation was launched in August 2021, when deputies responded to a disturbance at his residence that was reportedly caused by the girl telling her mother that Brooks had sexually assaulted her and had been for years.

A half-dozen or so more interviews were conducted with JCSD investigators and the young accuser underwent a forensic interview with a child specialist in Gulfport in September 2021. She reportedly told the interviewer that the sexual activity began when she was 7 and it “happened a lot” until she was 13 or so. She described all sorts of sex acts that took place in his bedroom, her bedroom and the living room, giving some graphic descriptions.

A medical exam that was conducted three weeks later in 2021 showed no irregularities, and it was noted that Brooks was in an alcohol-rehabilitation facility at that time.

In November 2021, JCSD Sgt. J.D. Carter requested that Brooks come in for an interview, but his attorney John Piazza declined on behalf of his client.

Brooks wasn’t taken into custody and charged until this week because officials “wanted the investigation to be very thorough” and they had to follow up on “new evidence that came to light,” Assistant District Attorney Kristen Martin said.

Brooks was set to have a bond hearing before Judge Dal Williamson in Jones County Circuit Court on Wednesday afternoon.

Brooks spent a couple of days in the Jones County Adult Detention Center in March after he was charged with trespassing on his ex-wife’s property and failing to appear in Jones County Justice Court for a scheduled hearing in February.

Failing to appear or take care of business in court is something a dozen or so clients have accused Brooks of in formal complaints to the Mississippi Bar Association. There were 12 complaints filed against him for allegations ranging from not providing services that had been paid for to impersonating a former client with a fake Facebook account.

Brooks, who used to have a law office in Jones County and often handled cases in Jones County Chancery Court, had been practicing law out of a West Pine Street office in Hattiesburg. He moved his practice there after he was caught having an affair with his secretary, which led to his divorce on the grounds of adultery, according to chancery court records.

Brooks was recently convicted in Lamar County Justice Court of impersonation and harassment after being accused of paying people to write false reviews of an opposing law firm. He was ordered to pay $3,500 in restitution to Chris Lott, whose name he used to create a fake Facebook account.

Brooks former legal assistant, Harley Dakota Norris, filed the affidavit against her boss admitting that he had paid others to write favorable reviews about his law firm. She alleged that he created “numerous” fake email accounts and Facebook pages for that purpose.

He was placed on “inactive disability status” by the state Supreme Court until a complaint tribunal had imposed disciplinary procedures against him.

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