A 34-year-old Omaha salon owner avoided a jury trial set to begin this week by pleading no contest last week in Douglas County District Court to one count of possession of child sex abuse images.
Brown was arrested in November 2023 and identified publicly at the time, held without bail at Douglas County Corrections on suspicion of felony child abuse and possession of child pornography, according to the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier. As reported by the Lincoln Journal Star, Brown entered his plea last week, before the trial had been scheduled to start.
Disclosure at Project Harmony Led to Search Warrants
An Omaha police affidavit, as described by the Lincoln Journal Star, says a former foster child of Brown’s reported that Brown abused them in 2020 after showing them homemade pornographic videos featuring Brown and other men. The former foster child also said Brown offered them $20 to be recorded while naked at Muse Beauty Bar, the salon Brown ran as its sole employee, and that they felt pressured to accept.
Project Harmony is a nationally recognized child advocacy center; its collaborative began in 1996, according to the Aksarben Foundation. The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reported that detectives obtained search warrants for the salon and a former residence in Bellevue, Nebraska, and seized Brown’s electronic devices. The Lincoln Journal Star reported that investigators found images and videos depicting children being sexually assaulted.
How Project Harmony coordinates child advocacy
The Omaha Police Department describes Project Harmony as a child-centered facility that brings together law enforcement, investigative, social service, medical and referral professionals. Project Harmony reported that it served 8,754 children and families from the Omaha metro and southwest Iowa through early intervention and response services in 2025, according to its annual report.
Digital Evidence and the Child's Account
The former foster child told investigators that Brown said the videos would be sold to a buyer and that he sold videos through Snapchat, the Lincoln Journal Star reported. The outlet also reported that Brown’s search history included terms involving “boy” and “young,” and that detectives found online aliases he used to communicate and exchange explicit images. The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier separately reported that forensic evidence on Brown’s phone included a Cash App transaction description linking a $20 payment to videos.
After his November 2023 arrest, Brown told detectives he did not consider the alleged victim a child. He also said images of child sexual abuse found on his phone came from Telegram groups he had reported, rather than from images he had intentionally downloaded, the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reported.
Mother Describes Learning of the Investigation
The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reported that Brown’s mother learned of the alleged abuse in spring 2023.
A Prominent Figure in Omaha's Arts Community
Beyond running Muse Beauty Bar, Brown worked as a dance choreographer for the University of Nebraska at Omaha's Summer Musical Theatre Academy production in 2022, according to the Omaha Daily Record. Following his November 2023 arrest, the Omaha Police Department issued a public announcement urging community members to contact law enforcement or the state child abuse hotline if they suspected additional victims, citing his extensive involvement in local youth and community activities, per the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier.
What Brown Faces at Sentencing
Nebraska law requires registration for a felony conviction involving visual depictions of sexually explicit conduct with a minor, under Nebraska Revised Statute § 29-4003, according to the Nebraska Sex Offender Registry.
Brown pleaded no contest to the single possession count, closing out the trial phase of a case that first drew public attention nearly three years ago.
