Man guilty of child sex abuse
US missionary faces at least 30 years’ jail for abusing Cambodian orphans
PORTLAND: A US jury has found a Christian missionary from Oregon guilty of multiple sex abuse charges for molesting children living at an unlicensed Cambodian orphanage that he operated in Phnom Penh over a period of years.
Daniel Stephen Johnson, 40, was convicted on Wednesday of six counts of illicit sexual conduct in a foreign place and one count each of travel with the intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct and aggravated sexual assault with children.
He faces a minimum of 30 years in prison when sentenced in August in Eugene, Oregon.
US authorities said nine Cam
bodian children ranging in age from seven to 18 had disclosed Johnson’s abuse in lengthy interviews with trained childforensic interviewers.
The FBI launched an extensive investigation after learning of the case in 2013, the US Attorney’s Office in Portland said.
“The despicable nature of this defendant’s conduct is beyond understanding,” said Billy Williams, US attorney for Oregon.
Johnson first molested a child at the orphanage during a trip in 2005, according to court documents.
Local law enforcement issued a warrant for his arrest in an unrelated matter in 2013 in Lincoln County, Oregon. He was located overseas and his passport was revoked based on the Oregon warrant.
The FBI then partnered with a nonprofit that combats child exploitation in Cambodia and the Cambodian National Police to locate Johnson in Phnom Penh.
He was arrested in 2013 by Cambodian authorities and indicted the next year in the United States on one count of engaging in illicit sexual conduct in a foreign place.
He was extradited to the United States after completing a oneyear prison sentence in Cambodia as US authorities built their case.
While in custody, Johnson tried to tamper with witnesses and contact his victims online, bribing them with gifts and promises of money to change their testimony, the US Attorney’s Office said. — AP
The despicable nature of this defendant’s conduct is beyond understanding. Billy Williams