Former Houston School Teacher Sentenced On Child Porn Charges

HOUSTON, TX — A 51-year-old Houston man will spend the next 27 years in prison after he was convicted on receiving and possessing child pornography.

Jason Dion Johnson, a former Houston area school teacher, pleaded guilty to those charges on April 20, and was sentenced on Oct.6 by U.S. District Judge Alfred H. Bennett.

Bennett considered Johnson's career in education, and the fact he'd collected child pornography for nearly 20 years, before sentencing the former educator to 27 years in prison. (Want to get daily news updates and news of other events going on in your area? Sign up for the free Houston Patch morning newsletter.)

Johnson was also ordered to pay restitution of $70,000 to four known victims, and he will serve 15 years of supervised release following completion of his prison term, during which time he will have to comply with numerous requirements designed to restrict his access to children and the Internet.

Watch: Former Houston School Teacher Sentenced On Child Porn Charges

He will also be ordered to register as a sex offender.

The FBI began its invetigation on Dec. 6, 2015, as authorities sought to identify persons using peer-to-peer software to traffic in child pornography.

Agents discovered a specific computer as offering to participate in the distribution of child pornography movies, and ideitified Johnson as the person linked to that computer.

Agents served a search warrant on May 6, 2016 on Jouhnson's home and found a number of videos and images of prepubescent girls being sexually exploited, as well as a pile of girls underwear, and several nmarked VHS tapes which revealed the presence of what appeared to be a hidden camera video from a changing area within a school.

These tapes had video of young female students who were recorded as the changed out of their school clothing and into uniforms.

At the time of the investigation and his arrest, Johnson was a 7th grade Social Studies teacher at Beechnut Academy in Houston.

However, authorities said they do not believe the footage was taken at that school.

Johnson will remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.

This case, prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kimberly Ann Leo, was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.

Led by the United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims.

For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visitwww.usdoj.gov/psc. For more information about internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/pscand click on the tab "resources."

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