Oregon Missionary Convicted Of Sexually Abusing Orphans

EUGENE, OR — A federal jury in Eugene on Wednesday found a former missionary from Coos Bay, Oregon, guilty of sexually assaulting numerous children living at an orphanage he operated in Cambodia for nearly a decade.

The verdict passed down to 40-year-old Daniel Stephen Johnson on May 16 followed a five-year investigation by Oregon FBI agents, with help from Lincoln County law enforcement, Action Pour Les Enfants (a non-governmental organization dedicated to ending child sexual abuse and exploitation in Cambodia), and the Cambodian National Police.

“The despicable nature of this defendant’s conduct is beyond understanding. Whether you are abusing children in this country or abroad, you will be pursued and held accountable in a court of law,” Billy J. Williams, U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon, said in a statement. “The fact that this defendant abused children under the guise of being a missionary and orphanage operator is appalling.”

Johnson reportedly operated an unlicensed orphanage in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, between November 2005 and his arrest in December 2013. During that time, Johnson "systematically and repeatedly" sexually abused at least nine orphaned Cambodian children staying at his establishment.

The children ranged between 7 and 18 years old at the time they were abused, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Oregon, which further noted the grotesque, detailed nature of the abuse he inflicted — such as anal and oral rape, after which he would sometimes pay his victims with money or food.

On at least one occasion that was brought up during trial, Johnson reportedly gave one of his victims Cambodian money valued at around $2.50 USD after the abuse.

“Daniel Johnson’s promises of charity and a better life were nothing more than lies as he dragged these children into his dark world of abuse,” said Renn Cannon, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI in Oregon. “This case should serve as a warning to those predators who believe they can hide their crimes – whether here at home or half-a-world-away. We will always stand with the victims, and we will always work to bring justice in their names.”

The 5-year investigation into Johnson's overseas debauchery began in 2013 after Lincoln County officials issued a totally unrelated — though also unspecified — warrant for his arrest. Working with the FBI, Lincoln County law enforcement found Johnson in Cambodia and worked with the U.S. State Department to revoke his passport.

Working with Cambodian police and Action Pour Les Enfants, FBI agents narrowed down Johnson's location to Phnom Penh, where he was ultimately arrested by Cambodian police on Dec. 9, 2013.

A trial ensued and in May 2014 Johnson was found guilty of "performing indecent acts on one or more children at the orphanage." He was sentenced to one year in a Cambodian prison.

Upon his release, Johnson was arrested by the FBI and returned to the U.S.

For the next seven months, roughly, the FBI interviewed more than a dozen children and adults who lived at the orphanage and had contact with Johnson.

A federal grand jury in Eugene on Dec. 20, 2014, issued an indictment accusing Johnson of "engaging in illicit sexual conduct in a foreign place." Seven additional charges were brought forth in May 2017.

Those charges appear to have been related to numerous attempts made by Johnson while still in custody to interfere with witnesses by encouraging the individuals interviewed by the FBI to lie in return for money and gifts.

"One message, sent via his relative’s Facebook account to an adult in Cambodia, discussed visiting a victim’s family and encouraging them to convince the victim to retract their statement, potentially in exchange for $10,000," U.S. Attorney spokesman Kevin Sonoff said. "Another message explains the need for a victim to say they were under duress and 'pushed by police' to thumbprint a document."

Johnson's sentencing hearing is scheduled for Aug. 22. He faces life in prison, or a mandatory minimum sentence of 30 years.

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