A convicted sex offender from Delaware County was given a prison sentence Thursday after pleading guilty to contacting a 14-year-old girl in Butler County in November 2020 through social media usernames he hid from authorities.

Thomas Joseph Johnson, 30, of Thornton, Delaware County, was sentenced to serve 12 to 36 months in state prison followed by 36 months of probation after pleading guilty to a felony charge of failing to provide accurate registration information on the social media accounts, a violation of Megan’s Law, and a misdemeanor charge of corruption of minors.

The sentence ordered by Butler County Common Pleas Court Judge Timothy McCune includes a concurrent 6 to 12 months in prison for the misdemeanor charge.

Johnson, who is currently being held in the county prison on $25,000 bail, was convicted in December 2015 in his home county of sexual abuse of a minor and possession of child pornography. The offenses took place in April 2013. The victim in the sexual abuse charge was a minor, according to his Megan’s Law report.

According to court documents for the Butler County charges, Johnson 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 victim’s stepfather attended the meeting at Skate Castle as a chaperone and immediately believed Johnson was much older than 17, state police said in court documents.

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, 2021, from Johnson through different accounts. The girl's mother began looking into who sent the messages and discovered Johnson's Megan's Law report, police said. The girl and her stepfather identified Johnson as the person the girl met at Skate Castle, police said.

Police said they interviewed Johnson, and he admitted to contacting the girl through the different usernames or handles and sending nude photos of himself via Snapchat. Police said none of the handles Johnson was using had been registered with Pennsylvania's Megan's Law as required.