Convicted Church Mentor Gets Life In Prison For Luring Teen Boys With Fake Web Profile

June 22nd, 2012 - By Alissa Henry
"Antoine Johnson"

Source: Newsone.com

Lawrenceville, Georgia does not tolerate child molesters as 29-year-old Antoine Johnson found out this week.

The former intern and summer camp organizer at Hebron Baptist Church received a life sentence after being convicted of three counts of aggravated child molestation after he pretended to be a teenage girl and lured teen boys into having sex with him.

NewsOne reports:

Kristen is a 14-year-old girl.  She hangs out online and meets boys, promising to fulfill their sexual fantasies. Boys, of course, would line up for the chance to meet Kristen, and were willing to do anything to get with her.  But the catch was that in order to get the “goodies” from Kristen, you had to have sex with a grown man to prove your loyalty.

Not only were the expectations of Kristen frighteningly unrealistic, the even harsher reality is that Kristen didn’t even exist. Kristen was the online creation of Antoine Johnson.

Gwinnett Superior Court Judge Timothy Hamil called the scheme “absolutely diabolical” as he gave Johnson a life sentence in prison for molesting two boys, ages 13 and 14.  He was also sentenced for attempting to lure in a 15-year-old back in 2008.  Johnson did most of his dirty work on MySpace and would even get on the phone with the boys, telling them that “Kristen” would be next in line for good sex if they got with him first!

Johnson says that he created the online profile from a picture he took from a real girl.  He claims that he created the profile to help a friend’s younger brother overcome self-confidence issues.  One of the teens said that he went to meet Kristen one night and met Johnson instead.  At 2 a.m., the two had 0-ral sex in the driveway.

“At first I refused for a few weeks…but she kept asking me and asking me, and I gave in,” the boy said.

“I’ve been a prosecutor 13 years, and the defendant’s testimony was some of the most bizarre I’ve seen,” said  Assistant District Attorney Nigel Lush. “We got a look inside the mind of a true pedophile.”

When he wasn’t out hunting down young boys, Johnson spent his time as a mentor for boys at his church.  According to records, he mentored as many as 500 boys per week.

None of the children involved in this case were children Antoine met at church and he maintains that he didn’t touch any of the children he mentored.

The Gwinnette Daily Post says:

[Antoine] pleaded guilty to 11 counts of sexual exploitation of a child in connection with a cache of dozens of child Adult Videos films and hundreds of photographs found on his personal computer. He also copped to a count of enticing a child for indecent purposes and two counts of attempting to entice children. The judge tacked on 60 years of probation to restrict him from computer access or unsupervised contact with minors, should he ever be paroled. Prosecutors had offered Johnson a plea deal of 20 years in prison, but he balked at admitting in court to physically molesting the teens. On the stand, he admitted to lusting for young boys but blamed his impulses on a distant relative who molested him and exposed him to child pornography when he was 7 years old.

The newspaper also says there was no jury in the case. Antoine didn’t want the children to have to recount their story in front of a jury so he opted to have his case heard by the judge in a bench trial. After what the judge called “called three days of ‘gruesome’ testimony” he sentenced him to life behind bars.

I’m not minimizing his crime, what Antoine Johnson did is absolutely deplorable, but a life sentence seems excessive. Sometimes I wonder if the justice system in this country is much too quick to throw young black men away for the rest of their lives. True, Antoine is definitely a sicko who certainly doesn’t elicit any sympathy, but isn’t life in prison reserved for kidnappers and murderers?  The prosecutor recommended the harsh sentence saying “true pedophiles never get better” and in Antoine’s case, he won’t even have a chance to try.

Alissa is a freelance writer living in Columbus, OH. Follow her on Twitter @AlissaInPink

More on Madame Noire!

Tags:

, , , , , , , ,
More from StyleBlazer
More from MommyNoire

Comment Disclaimer

Comments that contain profane or derogatory language, video links or exceed 200 words will require approval by a moderator before appearing in the comment section. XOXO-MN

  • Tia

    Alissa Henry you are Crazy!!! I love your post at first but after I read your comment talking about “life sentence too excessive” He deserves LIFE! Those children have to live with what he did for the rest of their lives so he deserves to spend the rest of his life behind bars! I don’t know if you have a child but would you want a monster serving a short sentence if they did that to your child? “standing ovation to the Judge in this case for doing the right thing” protecting our children from another monster!!!

  • Lola

    You are right!! Besides, he was given the option of taking 20 years, and he turned it down. So oh well…

  • BBBEE25TEE

    This is one of the worst case I’ve heard…I don’t know what’s going on with our kids….I’m bothered by him molesting them but even more bothered by these young boys who fell for the lies…”to have sex with a young girl they would have to have sex with a grown man first”…the mentality of these kids worry me. I’m not blaming them I just don’t understand what’s going on with some of the youths today. So easily persuaded that they would bend to the will of others, no matter how foul/vile the situation.

  • Mt

    It’s people like this: both male and female child predators, who make parents like myself leary of sending my child to any type of “extra-curricular” or very frankly- worship services where a “leader/mentor” is responsible for a whole group of children on a daily basis, without my parental supervision. While he claimed to have never abused any of the boys he mentored, the fact that he manipulated other young boys, goes to show how he used his ability to relate to these kids to lure them in. Thank you for posting this article because minds me why I reinforce the issue with my son that not all adults are good people, no matter where they work, or who they claim to be. And life in prison is an appropriate sentencing for Mr. Johnson because he murdered these kids innocence.

  • Deeder

    I went to Stephenson high school in Lithonia with him. He was very shy and quiet, I cant believe he would do something this harsh… it is a crazy world… you never know who is the person sitting right beside you! I remember he had a sister, Janet, I wonder if they were both abused at an early age.

  • Nae

    The justice system is off balance. Long sentence? YES DEFINITELY but life…I don’t know if I agree with that…if this is a case everyone who molests a child should get the same in return

  • http://twitter.com/BluberiHartford Tarnekia

    Exactly

  • poetsgroove

    Are you on something right now? What if this was your son, little brother, nephew etc. YOU DONT TOUCH KIDS!

  • L-Booge

    Justice well served.

  • AshCash

    A life sentence is JUST what this man needs. A LIFE in prison to think about the innocence he stole from young men that will likely never be the same ever again.

  • KAVO

    I went to high school with that guy. Not surprised ONE BIT. Didn’t know he was a pastor though.

  • RealTruth

    That life sentence should be the norm for EVERY single one of these pieces of garbage across the country,no ifs and or buts.They usually have along history of abusing children just never got caught and punished,or got caught and punished with very little jail time.!!

  • Juctice

    Compared to other crimes that have been committed in the past, yes his sentence is very harsh… I used to work as a co-facilitator is a court ordered sex offender “rehabilitation” group… And i know for a FACT that about half of my clients’ crimes were farrrrr worse than this… And all they served was half of a 7 yr sentence and aa support group???? Wth… Just the way our justice system works… Dont dont nething is your name is Tyrell but you might be of if your name is Billy… Smh

    • chapelle

      Wtf is FAR worst huh??? This is just under murder!!!! F up kids lives FOREVER. I guess u don’t have kids. Dumba** . The system IS broken and they SHOULD have had harsher sentences, but that has nothing to do with this. On this case the system worked! Antoine, Billy, Sandusky, Tyrell and whoever the hell else deserve life!!!

  • Disgusted survivor

    He deserves it! I’m actually offended by the fact that you would ask if his sentence is too harsh! He didn’t care about those children so why should we be concerned about his sentence being too harsh. And anyway, looks like he might enjoy his time in prison.

  • TPCherryB

    A life sentence too harsh…wow…wonder what you would write if it were your children? But u probably have none and that is why you sympathize with someone who like to hurt children. Alissa u r a nut bag!!!! For real

  • Chapelle

    What the hell is wrong Aliss.a Henr.y, is this chick serious? Get f**k out of here, to even ask the question :s lock his a** up and melt the key! Don’t tie this kind of sh*t to color please. It waters down the our message down!

    • grateful

      thank you! i balked at the same thing, do not make this a race issue! you want us to be laughed at !

  • guest510

    I personally think all child molesters should get life but I have to admit I’m surprised the sentencing was so harsh. Although he probably has other vicitms, I didn’t read anything about a criminal past. There are men who rape their own children for years who don’t get life even though they should. Makes me wonder

  • taz

    Seriously?he preyed on children.he probley got that job just to get close to children…parents and the community had their trust in him.he used his position in the church/camp plus online to get children.its wrong all over.he got what he deserved.what’s wrong with ruining his life when he already ruined 3?

    • Gimmeabreak78

      Exactly. Don’t even get me started on how the church is the age-old method for sexual deviants to find their next targets.

      • victoria

        while you blame the church, i will blame our community for allowing single parenthood to be the norm therefore leaving our children unprotected

        • victoria

          Making excuses is one of the reasons why our community is falling about. You know like I know that kids from single mother homes are more likely to be sexually abused. If you dont believe me look up this information under the U.S. Dept of Health and Human Services: Administration for Children and Families. Those from sigle parent homes are twice as likely to be sexually abused. So I wish all of the ”Yes, Im a single mother and my child is not a statistic” brigade would stop making excuses and put the safety and betterment of our children first. FROMUR2UB, instead of getting offended by my comment why not take the facts and promote 2 parent homes in our community. Pretending that single parent homes are not damaging our kids doesnt help us one bit.

          • FromUR2UB

            You made a huge leap about the circumstances of the victims’ homelife, when IN THIS PARTICULAR CASE the article doesn’t support it. The kids who are most likely to fall prey to sexual abuse, are those of parents who don’t take time to vet people who will be around their children, or who haven’t warned their children about situations to avoid. It’s utterly ridiculous for you to ASSume that only single parents are guilty of that. Furthermore, given that even in two parent homes of today, if both parents are working, there may be times when children are home alone (isn’t that the whole premise for your argument?). What about children who are sexually abused by relatives or friends of the family? Is that only happening to children of single parents?
            I completely agree, that it is better for a child to have two parents in the home. But, didn’t you know that single parent homes are also created by divorce and widowhood, rather than simply having children out of wedlock? Divorce and death are sometimes unavoidable realities. Some of those single parent homes occurred as the result of one of the wars in which this country has been involved. So,
            1) maybe you should consider ALL reasons a child may be in a single parent home. Whatever the reason, the result is the same, but what good purpose is served in trying to guilt people about it?
            2) place blame where it belongs: with the perverts who actively seek children, often by invasion of their homes through the internet. Those people are creating more perverts every time they ruin a child.
            3) If you don’t believe that a church, school, or any institution where children are sheltered, should share responsitbility for protecting children, then whose side are you REALLY on?

            • FromUR2UB

              Allow me to add something: “It is better for a child to have two INVOLVED parents in the home. People are not automatically made better parents just because there are two of them in the household. Probably everyone has known at least one “married – single parent”.

Get the MadameNoire
Newsletter The best stories sent right to your inbox!
close [x]