A Florida handyman who was sentenced on Thursday to life in prison for molesting two children had been convicted of storming the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, but was pardoned by President Donald Trump.

Andrew Paul Johnson, 45, is among several Jan. 6 defendants who have been charged with new crimes since Trump’s sweeping act of clemency for Capitol rioters. On his first day back in the White House last year, Trump pardoned, commuted prison sentences or ordered the dismissal of cases for all 1,500-plus people charged in the attack.

Johnson was convicted last month of two counts of lewd or lascivious molestation of a child and one count of electronically transmitting material harmful to a minor, according to prosecutors in Hernando County, Florida. County Circuit Judge Judge Stephen Toner handed down Johnson’s life sentence.

Sheriff’s deputies began investigating the child molestation allegations against Johnson in July 2025. One of his victims told investigators that the abuse started around April 2024, several months before Johnson was sentenced for his Capitol riot conviction.

Johnson told one of his victims that he expected to be compensated for being a pardoned Jan. 6 defendant and would be putting the child in his will to inherit any leftover money, according a sheriff’s office report.

“This tactic was believed to be used to keep (the child) from exposing what Andrew had done,” the report said. Investigators found sexually explicit messages that Johnson exchanged with one of his victims on the Discord messaging app, according to Fifth Judicial Circuit State Attorney Bill Gladson’s office.

“In the messages, Johnson attempted to have the victim download another application for a more private conversation and encouraged the victim to delete their messages afterwards,” Gladson’s office said in a news release.

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  • WanderWisley@lemmy.world
    25·
    11 hours ago

    Not a democrat, not a member of the LGBTQ committee, not an immigrant, not a trans athlete, not a black person, just good ol fashioned classic republican.

  • CharlesDarwin@lemmy.worldEnglish
    11·
    11 hours ago

    Andrew Paul Johnson, 45, is among several Jan. 6 defendants who have been charged with new crimes since Trump’s sweeping act of clemency for Capitol rioters.

    Also, FFS, the MSM needs to stop referring to these terrorists as “rioters”.

  • SLVRDRGN@lemmy.world
    12·
    13 hours ago

    Can someone tell me why the American Right made such a big deal about Biden “sniffing” and yet turn a blind eye to all this from the GOP?

    • TrollTrollrolllol@lemmy.world
      3·
      11 hours ago

      Conservatism consists of exactly one proposition, to wit: There must be in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect. -Frank Wilhoit

    • Vlyn@lemmy.zipEnglish
      4·
      12 hours ago

      You mean a government position? I can’t even add an /s here, the guy could actually end up the next secretary of defense or whatever.

  • CharlesDarwin@lemmy.worldEnglish
    5·
    11 hours ago

    Cases like this are what Democrats need to have on the very tip of their tongue when monsters like Noem and Blondi and MTG start up with their bullshit narratives where they have one case of an immigrant doing something awful.

    Democrats need to counter with something like: “well, while we are talking about crime, why did your boss pardon a PEDOPHILE, (Pam/Kristi)? That’s what we should really be talking about.”

    PEDOnald released these pedophiles. Ask them WHY. Every single time they imply that immigrants commit crimes at higher rates than citizens in an effort to distract from things like releasing the Donald-Epstein files.

  • Victor@lemmy.world
    191·
    20 hours ago

    Molesting kids? Sounds like another pardon is about to drop for him! Because the government condones that shit 🥰

        • ameancow@lemmy.worldEnglish
          4·
          11 hours ago

          Very possible, but incumbent republican leaders are kinda shitting themselves right now after all these local elections pointing towards local Republican leaders possibly facing a shellacking in the upcoming elections. A lot of criminal chuds are going to be whining very loudly from prisons for the next couple years as they realize that their invulnerability is entirely dependant on current polling.

          • CharlesDarwin@lemmy.worldEnglish
            1·
            11 hours ago

            Polis - supposedly a Democratic governor in a blue state - is thinking about releasing Tina Peters, which some outlets have taken to calling an “election denier”, instead of someone that was trying to steal an election and who assaulted a police officer.

        • CharlesDarwin@lemmy.worldEnglish
          1·
          11 hours ago

          Apparently Jared here in Colorado is considering releasing that bitch Tina Peter, who was trying to steal an election and who assaulted a police officer. And this is a blue state, so…that pressure/influence must work.

          She has not shown any remorse at all, and considers herself some kind of hero for the cause. I seriously saw a “free Tina Peters” hanging up on a building here in Colorado, so people like that would consider their feelings validated by such a move.