A Florida handyman who was pardoned by US President Donald Trump for his role in the January 6 US Capitol riot has now been found guilty of multiple child sex abuse charges.Andrew Paul Johnson was convicted on Tuesday by a jury in Florida of five crimes. These included molesting a child under 12, molesting another child under 16, and lewd and lascivious exhibition. He was acquitted of one charge of sending sexual material to a child. NPR first reported the verdict.Johnson was arrested in August. According to a police report obtained by NPR, he sexually abused and molested children for multiple months.Disguised as an 11-year-old’s ‘ex-boyfriend’The case came to light after the mother of one of the victims discovered that Johnson, described as her “ex-boyfriend”, had sent “inappropriate” messages to her young son on the gaming platform Discord. When she confronted her son, he told her that Johnson had molested him three times “between April 1, 2024, and October 2024,” beginning when he was 11 years old.The police report also said Johnson tried to keep the victim quiet. He allegedly claimed that the Trump administration was paying him $10 million in restitution because he had been a January 6 defendant. He also told the child he would include him in his will so he could receive any remaining money. The report stated: “This tactic was believed to be used to keep [redacted name] from exposing what Andrew had done to him.”January 6 Defendants have called for financial compensation, but none have received payments.Johnson had previously pleaded guilty to nonviolent offenses linked to the Capitol riot. In 2024, he was sentenced to one year in prison. A sentencing memorandum said prosecutors recommended that sentence because “Johnson climbed over broken glass to enter the US Capitol building through an office window that had been smashed out,” and asked other rioters to follow him inside.He also engaged in “disorderly and disruptive conduct” on Capitol grounds for several hours before being arrested. Prosecutors later alleged that Johnson spread false claims about the riot on social media and called for a second riot a year after his arrest. The memorandum added that “[Johnson] violated his conditions of release on at least ten separate occasions; and has a long criminal history”.Johnson was among roughly 1,500 January 6 defendants pardoned by Trump early in his second term. He is due to be sentenced in March and could face life sentence.
