By Christopher Johnson
A Clare County man is facing charges after investigators say he communicated online with a person he believed was a 14-year-old boy. Thus landing him behind bars this past week. On none other than Fourth of July of all days.
According to the Clare County Sheriff’s Office, deputies arrested Paul Ignacio Johnson at his Harrison residence Saturday following a multi-day online predator investigation. Where he was confronted by Pred Task Force, a citizen-led group that conducts online investigations.
The style of confrontation: directly, with cameras rolling. Very much in the vein of MSNBC’s To Catch a Predator, as helmed by reporter, Chris Hansen.
As seen in the interrogation video, the suspect appeared more preoccupied with his cellphone during the early portion of the confrontation. At several points, his phone emitted childlike notification sounds, which he attempted to quickly silence before returning his attention to investigators.
The task force informed authorities that it had been communicating with Johnson, who allegedly believed he was speaking with a 14-year-old boy. Investigators said the individual sent nude images during the online conversation.
Three months ago, Johnson was released from prison after serving a 13-year sentence stemming from the sexual assault of his girlfriend’s 4-year-old child at the time. Investigators also found child sexual abuse material (CSAM) on his devices during the investigation. Following the initial case, he fled to California, where he was later apprehended. Before being transferred back to Michigan to serve his sentence.
“This case had my head a lil messed up”, comments Jake Hockey of PTF afterward. “I also got a bit angrier than normal during our conversation with Paul because one, it just didn’t seem like he cared at all and two, the circumstances behind the case.”
Johnson was lodged in the Clare County Jail on multiple felony charges and was arraigned in the 80th District Court, where a judge set his bond at $200,000 cash or surety. He remains in custody. The charges include one count of communicating with another to commit a crime using a computer, one count of accosting children for immoral purposes, and one count of using a computer to commit a crime.
The investigation remains ongoing, and authorities say additional charges may be forthcoming.
