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Tampa Man May Have Abused Other Children, Police Say

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By VALERIE KALFRIN | The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 20, 2008

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• Police Seek Parents' Help

  Charles Johnson

TAMPA - Police think a 25-year-old disabled man charged in the sexual abuse of a 9-year-old boy might have abused other children.

Tampa police today charged Charles Nicholas Johnson, of 6716 S. Juanita St., with two counts of capital sexual battery. He was held without bail at Orient Road Jail.

Sex crimes Sgt. Paul Mumford said detectives think Johnson might have abused other children because he often babysat in the Port Tampa area.

Johnson's mother and brother, however, said he has a limited mental capacity. They said he has epileptic seizures and cannot read or sign his name.

"I don't believe he's accountable for it," said Johnson's mother, Nancy, 51. "I believe he was persuaded by the other kids who have a better brain than he does."

Edward Johnson, 27, added that his brother can be impressionable.

"He's got the brain of the same people he's hanging out with," meaning children, he said. "If he really did do these things, he needs to go somewhere and get help."

Police spokeswoman Laura McElroy said detectives talked to Charles Johnson and his family at length about his ability to understand right from wrong.

"We believe that he's competent and knows the difference between right from wrong," McElroy said. "He was aware that what he did was wrong."

McElroy said police also noted that Charles Johnson is a high-school graduate.

His mother said he graduated from Jefferson High School in 2002 as part of the Trainable Mentally Handicapped program. The Hillsborough County school district could not confirm whether he graduated as part of this program because of privacy issues surrounding student records.

However, Hillsborough County school district spokeswoman Linda Cobbe said that Johnson sporadically helped out in the kitchen at Jefferson as an unofficial volunteer, which meant he did not undergo a background check.

"It's not something we encourage," she said.

Public records show Charles Johnson has no prior criminal record in the state of Florida.

The district is cooperating with police but hasn't discovered any children victimized at Jefferson, Cobbe said. Johnson hasn't been seen there since before the previous school year ended, she said.

Mumford said Charles Johnson met the 9-year-old through babysitting him at the beginning of the summer. Police have identified another child Johnson is thought to have victimized but have not been able to locate that child, he said.

Detectives began investigating Charles Johnson after witnesses at the Camden Bayside apartments, 6301 S. West Shore Blvd., called police on Aug. 6 about Johnson touching the 9-year-old inappropriately at the pool. That day, Johnson and the boy denied any inappropriate behavior, but police followed up; both admitted on Tuesday to having sex in a wooded area at South Lois Avenue and West Tyson Street, Mumford said.

Nancy Johnson said she appeared before Circuit Court Judge Raul Palomino on Monday with her son regarding a protective order the 9-year-old's mother had sought against her son. Court records show that protective order was dismissed.

The mother wrote in court papers that Johnson was seen putting his hand down her son's pants at the apartment complex.

Mumford asked any parents who have had Johnson babysit their children to talk to their children about his actions and to call police at (813) 231-6130.

Reporter Valerie Kalfrin can be reached at (813) 259-7800 or vkalfrin@tampatrib.com.

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