Sex offender charged in new case
Charges have been filed against a 29-year-old registered sex offender who allegedly contacted a 14-year-old Butler County girl repeatedly.
State police filed charges Saturday against Thomas J. Johnson, 29, of Thornton, Delaware County, including felony failure to provide accurate registration information and misdemeanor corruption of minors.
According to his Megan's Law public report, Johnson has been incarcerated in Delaware County Prison since Feb. 25 and has been on the registry since his conviction in December 2015, at which time he was found guilty of sexual abuse of children and possessing child pornography.According to court documents for his current charges, Johnson allegedly began messaging the girl from an Instagram account in which the name and last four digits match part of his date of birth, which is July 23, 1991.Police said the messaging escalated into a meeting between the girl and Johnson, who was posing as a 17-year-old.“(The girl's) stepfather attended Skate Castle on this day to serve as a chaperone for the meet,” said the investigating officer. “Upon observing the defendant at the Skate Castle, the stepfather immediately believed him to be much older than 17.”Police said the stepfather forbade his daughter from further contact, and Johnson was blocked from messaging her on social media.According to police, the girl began receiving new messages starting Feb. 1 from Johnson through different accounts. The girl's mother began looking into who sent the messages and discovered Johnson's Megan's Law report.“(The girl) and her stepfather both identified the defendant via this website as the male (the girl) met with at Skate Castle,” police said.Police said they interviewed Johnson on Feb. 8, and he admitted to contacting the girl through the different handles and sending completely nude photos of himself via Snapchat.“I observed several sexually explicit messages from username tommytoolbox23 sent to (the girl's) Snapchat username,” police said.Police said none of the handles Johnson was using had been registered with Pennsylvania's Megan's Law as is required.A preliminary hearing in the case has yet to be scheduled.
