Registered sex offender charged with sexual exploitation of a minor
From Staff Reports
A man previously convicted of especially aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor has been charged again with committing similar crimes.
Robert Ray Johnson, 22, Mimosa Drive, Louisville, was charged Friday with two counts of especially aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor (requesting child pornography), according to a news release from the Blount County Sheriff’s Office.
He was also faces five separate charges of violating Tennessee’s sex offender registry.
Johnson is being held on bonds totaling $200,000 pending a 9 a.m. Dec. 10 hearing in Blount County General Sessions Court on the exploitation charges, and 1:30 p.m. Dec. 5 on the violation of the sex offender registry charges.
Teen’s complaint
Earlier this week, the Sheriff’s Office HEAT (Hi-Tech Evidence and Technology) Unit received a complaint from a 16-year-old boy who said a person who referred to himself as a Christian rock singer by the name of “Israel Johnson” asked the victim for nude photos of him.
Within a couple days, HEAT unit investigators received information from two other male juveniles who also received similar requests from “Israel Johnson.”
The three victims are local teens. HEAT investigators began their investigation, which led to Johnson.
Their investigation revealed that Johnson first approached these victims by sending friend requests on Facebook, portraying himself as 16 years old, friends of the family, and using a couple different aliases, including “Israel Johnson” and “Tyler Jones.”
Johnson told his victims he had just moved to Tennessee from California, and didn’t have any friends. It appears Johnson’s victims were chosen randomly on Facebook. The HEAT unit executed a search warrant at Johnson’s residence Wednesday and took him into custody. Johnson’s computer and cell phone were seized.
Served three years
Johnson was released from the Morgan County Correctional Complex in June 2012 after serving three years of a four-year sentence on two counts of especially aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor and two counts of sexual exploitation of a minor. The charges were placed against Johnson in September 2009 by the Sheriff’s Office HEAT Unit following an investigation which led to finding several still images and video of child pornography on Johnson’s computer.
Following Johnson’s release from prison in June, he moved to Monroe County for a short time, and then to Blount County in September 2012. Johnson is a registered sex offender in Blount County.
The investigation is continuing, and additional charges could be forthcoming.
