Man pardoned by Trump sentenced to life

January 6 [2021] rioter convicted in Florida child sex abuse case

By: Thao Nguyen
USA Today

..... If you or someone you know has experienced sexual violence, RAINN's National Sexual Assault Hotline offers free, confidential, 24/7 support to survivors and their loved ones in English and Spanish at: 800-656-HOPE (4673) and Hotline.RAINN.org and en Espanol at RAINN.org/es .
..... A Florida man pardoned by President Donald Trump for his role in the U.S. Capitol riot on January 6, 2021, has been sentenced to life in prison for molesting two children, prosecutors said.
..... Andrew Paul Johnson, 45, was found guilty in February [2026] of five criminal charges, including molesting a child under 12 and another under 16; lewd and lascivious exhibition; and electronically transmitting material harmful to a minor, according to the Fifth Judicial Circuit State Attorney's Office in Florida. He was sentenced on March 5. [2026]
..... Court records obtained by USA Today showed that Johnson was arrested in July 2025 after the Hernando County Sheriff's Office received a report that "two juveniles had fallen victim to lewd and lascivious acts over a many-month span."
..... When deputies responded to a residence in Brooksvill, Florida, about 50 miles north of Tampa, they were informed by one of the victims' mothers hat the two children admitted that they were both "inappropriately touched by Johnson," according to court records and prosecutors. one of the victims told investigators that the abuse began around April 2024, when the victim was 11 years old.
..... Further investigation revealed that Johnson had attempted to silence one of his victims by claiming he was being "awarded" $10 million from the Trump administration as restitution for JAnaur 6 [2021] defendants and that he would leave a portion of the money with the Vitim in his will, according to court records.
..... "This tactic was believed to be sued to keep [the child] from exposing what Andrew had done," court records state.
..... Prosecutors said Johnson also would buy one of the victims' various gifts and food in an attempt to keep the victim from reporting him to authorities. The victim told investigators that Johnson "once said to never tell anyone, due to the fact that he would get into trouble," according to prosecutors.
..... Investigators also found numerous sexually explicit messages that Johnson exchanged with one of the victims on discord, an instant messaging and social platform, prosecutors said.
..... "In the messages, Johnson attempted to have the victim downland another application for a more private conversation and encouraged the victim to delete their messages afterwards," the fifth Judicial Circuit State Attorney's Office said in a news release.

Johnson previously sentenced for participating in Capitol riot

..... In August 2024, Johnson was sentenced to one year in prison for his involvement in the January 6 [2021] riot, court records showed. He had pleaded guilty in April 2024 to entering and remaining in a restricted building or ground, and disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or ground, among other charges.
..... After attending Trump's "Stop the Steal" rally near the white house, federal prosecutors said Johnson marched to the Capitol and used a bullhorn, saying "We have a [expletive] job to finish." He entered the building by climbing over broken glass through an office window that had been smashed out, according to court records.
..... Prosecutors said Johnson then encouraged other rioters to join him in the office and proceeded to engage in disorderly and disruptive conduct on capitol grounds for over four hours. Video of the incident showed Johnson inside the building yelling: "We haven't accomplished [expletive]. We need to go through that [expletive] door. We're not done yet," court records state.
..... Johnson also repeatedly cursed and yelled at police officers after they deployed tea gas and other chemical irritants to disperse the riot, according to court records. Following the incident, prosecutors said Johnson "soporifically spread false information" about the January 6 [2021] riot on social media and called for a second riot more than a year after his arrest.
..... Prosecutors said Johnson, who has a long criminal history, did not show remorse over his participation in the riot and also violated his conditions of release on at least 10 separate occasions.

Latest Capitol rioter to be charged for new crimes

..... Johnson is among a string of Capital rioters who have committed new crimes after receiving a pardon from Trump in 2025. The president issued pardons for more than 1,500 people charged in the January 6 [2021] riot on his first day back in office, wring in his proclamation that the pardons would begin : a process of national reconciliation."
..... The proclamation granted commutation of sentences for more than a dozen people and a "full, complete and unconditional pardon to all other individuals convicted of offenses related to events that occurred at or near the United states Capitol on January 6, 2021."
..... A December 2025 analysis form Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a nonprofit watchdog organization, found that at least 33 January 6 [2021] defendants pardoned by Trump have been rearrested, charged, or sentenced for other crimes.
..... Several cases have made national headlines. In October 2025, Christopher Moynihan, 34, was charged with a felony count of making a terroristic threat. He was accused of sending threatening text messages about a scheduled public appearance by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.
..... "Jeffries made a speech in a few days in NYC. I cannot allow this terrorist to live. ... Even if I am hated, he must be eliminated. ... I will kill him for the future," the text message read, according to court records.
..... Moynihan was among the first rioters to enter the Capitol grounds and watched rioters fight with police at the rotunda door, according to federal prosecutors.
..... In another case, Zachary Jordan Alam, 33, was arrested in May 2025 after allegedly breaking into a Virgina home and stealing personal items, local television station WUSA9 reported. According to the station, Alam was previously serving an eight-year prison sentence for assaulting police officers and smashing the speakers' lobby window.

..... Contributing: Fernando Cervantes Jr., BrieAnna J. Frank, and Terry Collins, USA Today

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