A Chelsea man with a troubling past has copped to charges of harboring a digital den of child pornography. Lasall Johnson, 55, pleaded guilty to one count of possession of child pornography, as he Justice Department announced yesterday.
U.S. District Court Judge Leo T. Sorokin is now set to deliver Johnson's fate at a sentencing on June 5. Identified by investigators as a known user swapping illicit material on an online peer-to-peer file-sharing network, authorities raided Johnson's residence and hit pay dirt—seizing six electronic devices rife with CSAM.
Not Johnson's first run-in with the law, the 55-year-old's history is marred by a 1989 conviction for two counts of assault to rape, gifting him a 20-year stint in the clink—two years docked in the state pen and the rest hanging over his head for 18 years conditional release. The past indiscretion has him listed as a Level-2 sex offender, putting him back in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons.
Given his prior convictions, Johnson faces a tough row to hoe—a mandatory minimum of 10 years and as much as 20 behind bars, not to mention between five years to a lifetime of supervised release, and a fine that could balloon up to $250,000. Federal sentencing guidelines and the statutes that govern will influence the final decision by the district court judge.
The case is being wrangled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Suzanne Sullivan Jacobus of the Major Crimes Unit, following the collaborative pursuits of Acting U.S. Attorney Joshua S. Levy, Homeland Security Investigations in New England lead man Michael J. Krol, and Chelsea's top cop Keith Houghton to bring Johnson to justice. Their combined efforts shine light on the persistent battle against the plague of child exploitation materiel.
