Child Sexual Abuse and Criminal Justice

Andrew Johnson, a Florida man pardoned by President Trump for his role in the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, is set to stand trial Feb. 9 in Hernando County on state child‑molestation charges alleging months of abuse that began in 2024. Court records reviewed by CBS say Johnson, now 44, is accused of repeatedly molesting a minor and later trying to buy the victim’s silence by claiming he had been pardoned for 'storming the Capitol' and would receive $10 million as a 'Jan 6er,' promising to put the victim in his will. Johnson had previously pleaded guilty to four federal Jan. 6 charges, including entering a private Senate meeting room and climbing through a broken Capitol window, and was serving a one‑year sentence when Trump’s blanket pardon of more than 1,500 rioters wiped out his conviction and remaining prison time. Prosecutors in Florida call the new case, which has Johnson held in custody pre‑trial, a top priority and say any release would come with GPS monitoring and strict conditions. CBS notes Johnson is one of several pardoned Jan. 6 defendants now facing fresh charges, including a Virginia rioter convicted of breaking and entering, a New York man accused of threatening House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, and a Utah kidnapping suspect whose DNA allegedly links him to a 2018 case.