Dixon man seeking to have 67-year prison sentence reduced in child sex assault, abuse case

DIXON – A Dixon man sentenced to almost 70 years in prison three months ago for sex-related crimes against a victim younger than 13 said his sentence is excessive and is asking that it be reduced.

Jason E. Johnson, 52, pleaded guilty in September to one count each of predatory criminal sexual assault of a child and aggravated criminal sexual abuse.

Lee County Judge Theresa Friel-Draper sentenced Johnson on Feb. 6 to 60 years in prison for predatory criminal sexual assault of a child and a consecutive seven-year prison sentence for aggravated criminal sexual abuse. It was the maximum sentence allowed under the law.

A hearing has been set for 9 a.m. June 6 in Lee County Circuit Court on a motion to reconsider the sentence filed in February by Johnson’s attorney, public defender Douglas Lathe. In that motion, Johnson said the sentences require that he must serve 85% of the 60-year sentence and 50% of the seven-year sentence, and that the sentence is excessive in light of the evidence presented to the court.

According to the motion, the court did not fully consider an article of the Illinois Constitution that states “all penalties shall be determined both according to the seriousness of the offense and with the objective of restoring the offender to useful citizenship along with other authoritative considerations in mitigation.”

The motion also states that the court should take into consideration recommendations made in a psychological and psychosexual evaluation dated Nov. 17, 2022.

[ Dixon man sentenced to 67 years in prison for sexually abusing child ]

Johnson was arrested on the charges in May 2019, seven months after Dixon Police Department investigators learned of an allegation of sexual abuse against Johnson. During that investigation, officers learned from a child forensic interview conducted at the Shining Star Children’s Advocacy Center in Dixon that Johnson had sexually abused and assaulted a girl who was between the ages of 11 and 12, and that he had done so multiple times, Lee County State’s Attorney Charles Boonstra has said.

Those charges all involve the same victim, and they were alleged to have occurred in 2013. Johnson was indicted in May 2019 on four counts of predatory criminal sexual assault of a victim younger than 13 and five counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse of a victim younger than 13.

Boonstra has said that as the case was being prosecuted, investigators became aware of reports of other possible victims, with allegations that each had been abused or assaulted by Johnson at ages varying from 4 to 17 years old.

After further investigation, Lee County prosecutors charged Johnson on Sept. 29, 2020, with two more counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse in connection with a 2011 assault in which the victim was at least 13 years old but younger than 17, according to charging documents. He pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated criminal sexual abuse in August 2022 and was sentenced in June 2024 to 180 days in the Lee County Jail, four years of probation and a $25,000 fine. The other charge was dismissed.

Johnson then pleaded guilty Sept. 24 to two of the nine charges filed in 2019; the other seven were dismissed. Under that sentencing order, Johnson was given credit for 2,093 days served and ordered to register as a sex offender, according to court documents.

Lee County Assistant State’s Attorneys William Fawkes and Stephanie Sasscer are prosecutors in the case.