Sexual assault charge added to suspect

Published 9:57 am Tuesday, February 28, 2017

A Port Gibson man arrested Saturday on drug charges faces a sexual assault charge involving a juvenile, Warren County Sheriff Martin Pace said.

He said Frederick Julius Johnson, 32, who had an initial appearance Monday on a charge of possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute, will have a second initial appearance Tuesday on the additional charge of statutory rape involving a child under the age of 14.

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Pace would not comment further on the charge, except to say the juvenile was not a relative.

Johnson and a 13-year-old girl reported as a runaway from another state were arrested Saturday when sheriff’s deputies served a search warrant on a mobile home at 375 Glass Road in the LeTourneau community.

The girl, who is charged with possession of a controlled substance, was being held at the Warren County Youth Detention Center.

Pace said Johnson’s bail was set at $15,000 on the drug charge, but he will remain in jail because the Mississippi Department of Corrections has a no-bail detainer, or hold, on him for probation violation involving an aggravated assault charge in Warren County and burglary and auto theft charges in Claiborne County.

Johnson, whose address in court records is 1151 Short Oak Road, Port Gibson, was sentenced in 2011 to seven years in prison followed by five years of probation after pleading guilty in Warren County Circuit Court to aggravated assault.

Pace said the assault sentence and the burglary and auto theft sentence from Claiborne County were served concurrently, or together. He was released from prison in June.

He said deputies served the search warrant on the mobile home about 1 p.m. Saturday. When Johnson saw the deputies approach the mobile home, Pace said, he and the juvenile ran into a nearby wooded area and were arrested after a short foot chase.

He said deputies seized four ounces of “high grade” marijuana, .13 ounces of cocaine and crack cocaine, 30 pills of the drug Ecstasy, “ice,” a high grade form of methamphetamine, and prescription painkillers oxycodone and Dilaudid. The total street value of the drugs was $5,000.

Deputies also seized loaded 12-gauge shotguns, a .25-caliber handgun and $500 in cash.

Pace said the case remains under investigation and Johnson could face additional charges. He said more arrests are expected as the probe continues.

About John Surratt

John Surratt is a graduate of Louisiana State University with a degree in general studies. He has worked as an editor, reporter and photographer for newspapers in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. He has been a member of The Vicksburg Post staff since 2011 and covers city government. He and his wife attend St. Paul Catholic Church and he is a member of the Port City Kiwanis Club.

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