Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Leslie Johnson - Repeat Sex Offender - Pedophile

A convicted sex offender whose daughter discovered child pornography on his computers in 2008 was sentenced Tuesday to 30 years in prison.
Leslie Johnson, 59, was sitting in the Minnehaha County Jail in August 2008, on a federal charge of failure to register as a sex offender when his daughter found two laptop computers in his Chevy Suburban. When she turned on the computers, she saw photos and videos of boys and girls - in some cases as young as 3 - engaged in sexual acts. She turned her father in, and he was charged with 10 counts of possession of child pornography.
He returned to Lincoln County to face those charges after serving his 14-month federal sentence for failure to register.

In April, Lincoln County State's Attorney Tom Wollman dropped seven charges in exchange for guilty pleas on three.

At sentencing, defense lawyer Cynthia Berreau said her client was sexually abused, starting at age 3. A court-appointed psychologist noted that Johnson is aroused by children, but Berreau said Johnson never had acted on those urges.

"Statistically, we know that is a cyclical problem, but there are no allegations anywhere that Mr. Johnson has had contact with any children," Berreau said.

Berreau also talked about Johnson's medical conditions, saying that the maximum sentence would amount to a life sentence for her client.

Such a sentence is appropriate, however, Wollman said.

"These victims spend a lifetime wondering who's seen those images and videos," Wollman said.

Johnson's computer contained chat room conversations wherein he'd fantasized about raping young boys and girls, Wollman said. Johnson got the videos through chat rooms from other Internet users.

"Without individuals like Leslie Johnson asking for these images, I don't think anyone would be out there making them," he said.

Judge Stuart Tiede pointed to the psychologist's findings, saying that Johnson is "chronically antisocial," as well as prone to violence and impulsiveness.

"When one looks at all of the factors, I don't think you're very far from doing - as opposed to just watching," Tiede said.

"25% of all sex offenders re-offend within 15 years"
.........Sarah Tofte

"On average most sex offenders are never caught again for a new sex offense, after five years, between 10 and 15 percent of sex offenders are detected, often convicted, of committing a new sex offense. If you follow them for ten years the rates go up somewhat, if you follow them as long as we’ve been able to follow them, which is about 20 years, the rates go up to somewhere between 30 to 40 percent of the total sample will eventually be caught for a new sex offense."
Dr. R. Karl Hansen

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