LAKESIDE – Convicted child molester Brandon Derek Copeland, 35, of Lakeside was sentenced to 19 years in prison in the Navajo County Supreme Court on April 27.
The Navajo County Sheriff’s Office posted a press release on May 3 announcing the verdict.
Sheriff David M. Clouse announced that on August 14, 2020, his office had received a report that a girl under the age of 12 had been touched in her private areas by Copeland. A few days later, he was charged with direct complaint. In September, a grand jury filed charges against 14 Grade 2 and 3 offenders, including four child abuse cases and four kidnapping cases (retraining of persons for sexual purposes), five cases of sex with minors and one case of sexual abuse.
In the end, he pleaded guilty to two amended allegations of attempting to molest a child and to commit kidnapping. Copeland is serving 19 years for kidnapping; for the other two, he will be on parole for life with sex offender conditions. According to the plea agreement, he has a previous crime conviction, but the state of Arizona has no record of when, where, or what that previous crime was. When he was booked on the current charges, he was found to be “contraband” in person and charged with it. The contraband charges and the other 11 charges on which the grand jury indicted him in August 2020 have been dismissed.
Life probation with sex offender terms is very strict. He must register as a sex offender, provide a DNA sample, have no contact with anyone under the age of 18, or hang around or go to schools and undergo evaluation and therapy, including evaluation using a “penis plythsmograph” .
The plythsmograph is a device, wired sleeve or ring attached to the male element that measures stimulation when the subject is shown a series of sexually stimulating images. It is supposed to identify which images the motif finds stimulating.
Under the criminal laws, Copeland can reduce the prison sentence by 15%. This time can be spent during publication and under “community supervision”. If Copeland breaks his parole, he faces an additional five to 15 year sentence for each of the two charges for which he has been paroled.
In the press release, Sheriff Clouse stated, “It is my priority to thoroughly investigate these cases, find those responsible, hold them accountable and keep the child / victim safe. I recommend our detectives and MPs working on these cases as they are extremely sensitive and difficult for everyone involved. Great job by our criminal police. “
Copeland will be at least 50 years old after his release.
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