Background: This image from video provided by the Department of Justice from police-worn body camera shows Andrew Paul Johnson on the Lower West Terrace of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Jan. 6, 2021. (Department of Justice via AP). Inset: Andrew Paul Johnson (Florida's Fifth Judicial Circuit's State Attorney's Office).
A Jan. 6 rioter will spend the rest of his life behind bars for crimes he committed in Florida after the U.S. Capitol insurrection.
Andrew Paul Johnson, 45, was sentenced to life in prison, the State Attorney's Office for Florida's Fifth Judicial Circuit announced on Thursday.
He was found guilty in February of lewd or lascivious molestation of a victim less than 12 years of age, lewd or lascivious molestation of a victim 12 years of age or older but less than 16 years of age, two counts of lewd or lascivious exhibition, and transmission of material harmful to a minor by electronic device.
In July 2025, Hernando County Sheriff's Office deputies arrived at a home in Brooksville, Florida, "in reference to a sex offense," the prosecutorial agency said. Brooksville is located in the west-central part of the state, some 50 miles north of Tampa.
A "complainant" told the deputies that "two juvenile victims stated they were both inappropriately touched by Johnson," and the complainant gave the officers a cellphone that one of the victims "indicated" Johnson had given to them for the two of them to communicate.
Authorities continued to investigate, finding "numerous messages" between Johnson and one of the victims on a computer from Discord — a communications app — which were "sexually explicit in nature." The now-convicted defendant also "attempted to have the victim download another application for a more private conversation and encouraged the victim to delete their messages afterwards."
The state attorney's office indicated that authorities interviewed both victims with help from the Children's Advocacy Center of Hernando County, an organization that says it is "dedicated to reducing trauma to victims of child abuse through intervention, prevention, and education."
"The first victim recounted specific details of events, as well as various locations where these acts occurred," Florida's Fifth Judicial Circuit said, with the victim reportedly adding that some "incidents" took place with the other victim also present. "Johnson would buy the victim various gifts and food in an attempt to keep the victim from reporting him."
"The victim stated the defendant once said to never tell anyone, due to the fact that he would get into trouble," the agency went on.
The second victim reported "several instances of inappropriate touching" by Johnson "and even corroborated statements made by the first victim."
Both of Johnson's young victims — a boy and a girl — testified at his trial, detailing how he used his role as a "father figure" to subject them to physical and sexual abuse and explicit messages, according to NPR. Johnson reportedly came into the children's lives after meeting their mother at a political rally in 2023, and she let him stay on their couch, believing that he could help fix things in their home as he worked as a handyman.
By 2023, Johnson had already been charged for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot. According to a federal criminal complaint filed in October 2022, he was charged with entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly conduct in a Capitol building, and parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol building.
He initially pleaded not guilty, then changed his plea to guilty in April 2024, and then tried to withdraw that plea in August, with the final attempt being denied by a judge. He was sentenced to serve one year in prison for the first two charges and six months for the final two, with the sentences to run at the same time, followed by a year of supervised release.
Mere months into serving his sentence, however, Johnson and 1,500 other Jan. 6 riot defendants were pardoned by President Donald Trump on Jan. 20, 2025, the first day of the commander in chief's second term. "Free! At last!" an account belonging to Johnson wrote on X the next day, according to NPR.
"We all never lost faith you would do the right thing!" the post added, referencing Trump. "And thank you too all the supporters and advocates that never gave up on us!"
The same account posted in the ensuing months about receiving restitution money from the Trump administration. "I may actually cry if this happens," one post read. "What a journey the last 4 years have been. But I have met the best people in life thru it all and wouldn't change any of it for the world."