The father of The 5 Browns musical group pleaded guilty Thursday to sexually abusing his daughters when they were children.
With scratches on his face from a car crash, 55-year-old Keith Brown entered his plea to three felony counts in Fourth District Court.
Dressed in dark slacks and a grey overcoat, Brown appeared in court with his sister-in-law by his side.
His response to the judge who asked for his plea on each charge was a barely audible, "guilty."
Court records show Utah County prosecutors charged Brown with one first-degree felony count of sodomy on a child and two second-degree felony counts of sexual abuse of a child.
Brown, who did not speak further during the hearing, could face a sentence of up to life in prison on the first-degree felony and up to 15 years each on the second-degree felonies.
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"He is terribly remorseful for what has happened and for what he has put his family through," defense attorney Steven Shapiro said after the hearing. "He recognizes that this is the next step in the long road to trying to accept responsibility for something terrible that he did a long time ago."
Brown's daughters are part of the classical piano group The 5 Browns whose albums have topped the classical music charts and who have appeared on "Oprah" and other shows.
Keith Brown appeared in court just three days after he and his wife were hurt in a crash that saw his Porsche plunge from a mountain road into a 300-foor canyon in Utah.
Both parents survived the crash.
The records filed Feb. 10 in the abuse case don't identify any victim by name or indicate the relationship between Keith Brown and the alleged victims.
However, Kimball Thomson, a spokesman for The 5 Browns, said the charges involve Brown's daughters and group members Desirae, 32, Deondra, 30, and Melody, 26. He declined to release further information on the women.
"We can confirm that Keith Brown has been charged with sexual abuse involving his daughters," Thomson said Wednesday in an e-mail to The Associated Press.
The AP does not generally identify people who say they were sexually assaulted, but the Brown women have chosen to be identified and are cooperating with police, Thomson said.
Thomson said the Brown children severed their professional relationship with Keith Brown in October of 2008. He was once the manager of The 5 Browns but now has no connection, Thomson said.
Court documents state the allegations stem from separate occasions between November 1990 and October 1992, November 1990 and November 1992 and March 1997 and March 1998 in Utah County.
There are no statutes of limitation in Utah that prevent prosecutors from filing such sex crime charges.
Keith Brown and Lisa Brown, 54, the mother of the group members, were hospitalized after the Valentine's Day crash that mangled the Porsche beyond recognition in Little Cottonwood Canyon on the east side of the Salt Lake valley.
The Browns were initially knocked unconscious, but Keith Brown woke and was able to call 911 from a cell phone.
The cause of the crash remained under investigation, although Unified Police Lt. Justin Hoyal said speed appeared to be a factor.