A Missouri man described as a "cookie monster" was sentenced Friday to over 200 years in prison for molesting children, KCTV reported.
In addition to a 231-year sentence, Lawrence C. Browning was given four life sentences on a series of harrowing charges against little girls, including three counts of statutory sodomy and two counts of attempted statutory sodomy.
"What's frightening is that this man lived about two blocks from a neighborhood school and would offer children cookies," Clay County Prosecutor Daniel White said according to KCTV.
"People called him the 'cookie man' but he was really a 'cookie monster.'"
Investigators say 69-year-old Browning, of Liberty, abused the children sometime between April and September 2013. He exposed himself to the girls and told them to perform a sex act, the Kansas City Star reported. Browning threatened to punish them if they told others what happened.
It's not clear how many victims Browning was accused of molesting, but they include a 3-year-old and 5-year-old. Police were alerted to the molestation after the girls told their parents.
During police interviews with the victims, Browning walked into the police station and said he was "probably in big trouble" because of what he did, KCTV reported.
Questioning with Browning led to the recovery of naked photographs of the victims and child pornography.
Browning pleaded guilty to the sodomy charges on Dec. 23, along with exploitation of a minor and possession of child porn.
At his sentencing, the girls' parents said they needed professional counseling after what Browning did, the Kansas City Star reported.
"Our lives have been forever changed," said one father. "No man's freedom is worth the innocence of a child."
