Allen R. Johnson, 71, was acquitted of two counts of child molestation Wednesday in Callaway County Circuit Court after Judge Gene Hamilton ruled the confession inadmissible.
The trial began Oct. 16 and ended the next day, offering only the victim's testimony - and no physical evidence - for the jury to consider.
Charges against Johnson stemmed from a complaint made in May 2006 by the stepmother of his 12-year-old granddaughter - who claims that Johnson inappropriately touched her.
The statement asserts that the child told her stepmother that from age 6 to age 8 Allen Johnson touched her private parts, and had her touch his - which Johnson purportedly admitted to Callaway County Sheriff's investigators, adding also that he received sexual gratification from her touch.
Though Hamilton presented no explanation for his ruling, defense attorney Justin Carver thinks, “justice was done,” because he believes Johnson's admission was unlawfully acquired.
According to Carver, the confession was obtained during a time when Johnson should have been en route to the Mid-Missouri Mental Health Center in Columbia - based on a court order the police failed to immediately obey.
“This was an awfully interesting case, and one that doesn't happen often,” Carver told The Fulton Sun. “But, if two judges find what happened is that significantly flawed, that says there were some flaws there.”
The prosecution disagrees.
“Certainly it was devastating to the victim's family, who knew that the defendant had confessed and that the judge made the ruling that he made,” said Prosecuting Attorney Bob Sterner. “Based on the law and the way the judges understood it, the jury had to rule without the confession.
“And, there wasn't enough evidence to find him guilty beyond reasonable doubt.”
Sterner noted that there is no case law that tells if the investigator's decision to question Johnson before taking him to Mid-Mo was illegal. He said neither he nor Carver could find one that was even close.
Sterner also said that a judge can be asked to make written findings, but that wasn't requested at the time of the trial, and now it can't be done.
Knowing this, the victim's family longs for reasons why Johnson's constitutional rights are more important than their daughter's.
To the child's parents, the system needs to “find a better way to protect the victim.”
“He did this, and everyone up there knows that he's guilty,” said the stepmother, Candy Johnson. “If there was a confession to be heard there should be no way, shape or form that the jury shouldn't hear it.
“I hope they go sleepless every night of their lives knowing that they let that damn child molester go free.”
The child's father agrees, and claims this is not the first time Johnson has been accused of the crime.
“The man has been known twice before to have molested other children, including his own stepdaughter and sister,” Michael Johnson said. “But the law and the courts don't allow you to tell the truth.
“We did everything the prosecution asked us to do, and still it wasn't enough to get justice.”
The accused Allen Johnson, who now lives in Linn, said he's ready to put the case behind him.
“I've had a year of this and I've lost a lot,” Johnson told the Fulton Sun. “The whole thing was extinguished by several jurors and the judge Š and I'm through with it.”
Johnson elected not to comment on the other allegations of molestation that were made by his son Michael.
"25% of all sex offenders re-offend within 15 years"
.........Sarah Tofte
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