A 61-year-old Exeter man will spend the next four and a half years behind bars after a jury found him guilty of soliciting a teenage boy for sex outside the Wakefield business where the boy worked. Lee Bromley was sentenced Monday in Washington County Superior Court on one count of indecent solicitation of a minor child to engage in prostitution, following his conviction in May.
According to WJAR, Superior Court Justice Sarah Taft-Carter handed down a five-year sentence, with four and a half years to be served at the Adult Correctional Institutions and five years of probation to follow. Taft-Carter also ordered Bromley to register as a sex offender, barred him from contacting the victim, and prohibited him from ever entering the victim's workplace again.
Prosecutors said Bromley approached the boy, who was younger than 18, outside his job on Aug. 22, 2022, and solicited him for sex. The victim did not know Bromley beforehand, the Rhode Island attorney general's office said, underscoring that the encounter was not tied to any prior relationship or acquaintance between the two.
Investigators and Prosecutors Credited With Building the Case
The station's report credits Assistant Attorney General Mark Trovato and South Kingstown police Detective Sgt. Douglas K. O'Brien with leading the investigation and prosecution that resulted in Bromley's conviction. The case moved from the 2022 encounter to a jury verdict nearly four years later, culminating in this week's sentencing in Washington County.
Attorney General Peter Neronha praised the victim for coming forward and said the defendant would be held accountable, per the same account. The case adds to a string of Rhode Island prosecutions involving adults accused of targeting children for sexual exploitation, though the specifics and severity of those cases vary widely.
Other Rhode Island Cases Involving Minors
Separately, Rhode Island State Police previously announced the arrests of 13 men accused of seeking sex with children, with charges that included indecent solicitation of a minor, as turnto10.com reported. In another case reported by the outlet, a Middletown man was charged with indecent solicitation after allegedly believing he was arranging to meet a 14-year-old boy.
A separate case covered by Across Rhode Island, RI Patch involved a defendant convicted of enticement, sexual exploitation of minors, and child pornography who received a 25-year prison sentence — a reminder that penalties in these cases can vary significantly depending on the charges involved. Under Rhode Island law, the Rhode Island General Assembly's statute on indecent solicitation of a child states that those convicted shall be imprisoned for not less than five years.
Bromley's sentence also places him under the state's sex-offender registration framework. The Rhode Island Parole Board oversees a Sex Offender Community Notification Unit that provides support related to notification requirements under the state's Sexual Offender Registration and Community Notification Act.
