MUSKEGON, Mich (May 2, 2014) – A longtime Muskegon pastor will likely spend the rest of his life behind bars after a jury found him guilty of raping two of his young relatives, and sexually abusing a third.
77-year-old Carlton Lindbergh Johnson will be sentenced for two counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct, and for one count of second-degree criminal sexual conduct in June. He was arrested and charged with the crimes in June 2013 after one of the victim’s came forward to police in 2012.
Johnson was a registered church leader at Faith Congregational Church of God in Christ in Muskegon’s Jackson Hill neighborhood.
Victim testimony in the case revealed the crimes happened over the course of decades. One victim testified Johnson raped her when she was younger than 13. Two others said they were between 13 and 15 years old when they were sexually abused.
The crimes happened both in Johnson’s home, and at the church according to victim testimony.
One woman, now 70 years old, testified Johnson sexually abused her as long ago as 1957.
The first-degree criminal sexual conduct convictions carry a punishment up to life in prison.
