Charles City man averts jury trial, enters guilty pleas to sex offenses with minors

A Charles City man accepted a plea agreement to three sex crimes with minors just days before a scheduled two-day jury trial in Charles City Circuit Court.

Rodney Johnson, 52, of the 9500 block of Lewis Tyler Lane, entered guilty pleas to three counts of aggravated sexual battery of a minor less than 13 years old and one count of misdemeanor violation of a protective order. Twelve charges of aggravated sexual batter of a minor less than 13 years old, nine counts of sodomy with a minor less than 13 years old, and four counts of sexual penetration with an object on a minor less than 13 years old were dropped as part of the plea deal. Johnson was originally indicted in Dec. 2017 on 16 of the charges with the other 12 charges coming from certified indictments last March.

In a summary of evidence provided by Commonwealth’s Attorney Rob Tyler, between 1996 and 2001, Johnson was dating the mother of one of the three victims. According to Tyler, the victims, ages six, seven, and eight at the time, were exposed to Johnson’s sexual antics that included him teaching them how to masturbate.

As the victims became adults, one of them began attending counseling sessions to address the situation with therapy. Through those sessions, that victim reported the crimes to authorities and an investigation began. Eventually, Johnson was arrested on the charges.

Under the plea agreement, no set terms were set but a pre-sentence report is being prepared for formal sentencing on Jan. 25. According to Tyler, the sentencing guidelines have no cap on a number of years to serve.