Andrew Paul Johnson, a Florida man who received a full pardon from President Trump for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot, was sentenced Thursday to life in prison after a Florida jury convicted him of five charges related to the sexual abuse of two middle-school-aged children.
Johnson, 45, was found guilty of molestation, lewd and lascivious exhibition, transmission of material harmful to a minor and other counts, prosecutors said. Police and trial testimony show he used a trusted “father figure” role to repeatedly sexually abuse an 11-year-old boy and a 12-year-old girl, exposed himself to them, and sent explicit messages via online platforms including Roblox and Discord.
Both children testified that Johnson told them not to tell anyone and that they were too frightened to disclose the abuse. “He said not to tell anybody,” one victim testified. “We were scared,” the other said. NPR is withholding the victims’ and their parents’ names to protect their privacy.
Johnson first came into the victims’ lives after meeting the boy’s mother at a political rally in 2023. The single mother let Johnson, who worked as a handyman, sleep on her couch. By then, Johnson already faced federal charges for the Capitol breach: in April 2024 he pleaded guilty to several nonviolent offenses related to Jan. 6 and in August 2024 was sentenced to a year in prison followed by a year of supervised release.
In January 2025, after President Trump issued mass pardons for virtually every Jan. 6 defendant, Johnson was among those freed. He posted on X (formerly Twitter), “Free! At last! Thank you @realDonaldTrump!” After his release, Johnson began posting that he expected restitution money from the Trump administration and re-entered the children’s lives. The abuse resumed, prosecutors said.
The boy’s mother grew suspicious after finding concerning messages from Johnson on her son’s Discord account. In July 2025 she confronted the children; soon after she called police. Law enforcement located Johnson in Tennessee and arrested him on Aug. 26, 2025.
Johnson’s case is among several examples of pardoned Capitol defendants who have been arrested or charged with new crimes after receiving clemency. Opponents of the pardons say they encourage a sense of impunity. “They think they’re untouchable,” Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., told NPR, arguing the pardons “definitely have made Americans less safe.” Raskin added that Johnson’s release enabled him to continue abusing children and asked whether the president takes responsibility for that consequence.
In recent weeks, other pardoned Jan. 6 defendants have faced new legal trouble. Jake Lang, alleged to have assaulted police with a baseball bat during the riot, was arrested after prosecutors say he threatened a police officer at a fifth-anniversary rally; he has pleaded not guilty and also faces a felony charge in Minnesota after knocking over an ice sculpture. Bryan Betancur, who has a lengthy criminal record and was on probation and wearing a court-ordered GPS monitor at the time of the riot, was arrested on March 2, 2026, on assault and battery charges after videos appeared to show him touching women on the D.C. Metro; multiple women have accused him of stalking and harassment.
The Johnson case has also intensified debate over proposals to compensate Jan. 6 defendants. Figures including former U.S. pardon attorney Ed Martin and Justice Department official Jonathan Gross have promoted the idea that people prosecuted in connection with the riot should be financially made whole. In June 2025 the Justice Department announced a nearly $5 million settlement to the family of Ashli Babbitt, who was shot and killed during the attack; the officer who shot her had been cleared by DOJ under the prior administration. House Democrats have introduced a bill to prohibit federal payouts to former Jan. 6 defendants, a measure not supported by House Republican leadership.
As the administration that issued the pardons has worked to recast the defendants’ image, an official White House website described Jan. 6 defendants as “patriotic Americans prosecuted for their presence at the Capitol,” and Trump has referred to rioters as “great people.” When asked whether the pardons undermined his tough-on-crime stance after another pardoned rioter was charged with threatening a top House Democrat, Trump responded that “if one goes haywire” among “thousands of people,” that was to be expected and pivoted to criticize Democrats. The White House did not respond to NPR’s request for comment on Johnson’s case.