Former ISU assistant basketball coach Randy Brown has been stripped of the privilege of reporting for his own federal prison term — a privilege he never deserved.

On April 16, Brown was sentenced to 24 months in prison and a $7,500 fine for receipt of child pornography. U.S. District Judge Ronald Longstaff allowed Brown to self-report to the appointed federal prison to serve his sentence.

This meant Brown would be free on bond for up to six weeks while paperwork was processed and a prison was selected.

The decision was appealed by the U.S. Justice Department, and an appeals court ruled Brown should not have been allowed to walk free. Brown now waits for Longstaff to issue the order.

Brown pleaded guilty to, and was convicted of, a crime of violence. As such, he should have been placed into custody immediately after his sentencing.

Longstaff cited two reasons for keeping Brown out of the Polk County Jail until he could be transferred to a federal prison. The first was so Brown could continue treatment for depression.

Brown’s lawyer, Tim McCarthy, argued Brown had undergone an extraordinary amount of treatment since he was questioned by police in January 2003.

Almost all of the treatment Brown had received had been for depression and not for sexual addiction. Moreover, Brown could have continued this treatment in prison.

The second reason Longstaff gave for not wanting to place Brown into direct custody was that he feared Brown would not be properly separated from other inmates at the county jail.

This is not the first time the Polk County jail has had to deal with a sexual offender. It is ridiculous to think that Brown’s safety would be in jeopardy any more than any other person who had violated a child-exploitation law.

Brown is not a child, he is a 44-year-old man. He knew the consequences of his actions, but participated in the exploitation of children anyway.

He does not deserve any preferential treatment, regardless of his attempts at counseling, his lack of criminal history, or his status as a former employee of the university.

Brown’s attorney did not prove he had “extraordinary circumstances” that would exempt him from the mandatory immediate custody dictated by the violence of his crime.

We agree with the officials of the U.S. Justice Department who filed for the appeal and succeeded in placing a criminal where he belongs — behind bars.