A former care home manager who sexually assaulted a teenage staff member over 30 years ago has been sentenced to four months in jail.
Morgan Johnson, of Old Lurgan Road, Portadown, assaulted the girl in the lates 1980’s while they were both working in a care home.
The 83-year-old was found guilty on one charge of indecent assault after contest in October, and appeared at Laganside Magistrates’ Court in Belfast on Monday morning for sentencing.
The court heard that the origin of the allegation came on October 1, 2021, when police received an anonymous online report stating that Johnson had sexually assaulted a female over 30 years ago.
On October 6, police identified the female as the victim, who cannot be named in order to protect her identity.
She told police that she had been sexually assaulted by Johnson at her place of work. She gave a three month window as to when this assault took place.
At the time, the victim was 17-years-old and had started working there as a junior care assistant, where she was living in female-only accommodation.
Johnson was a manager at the care home at the time.
It was alleged that on the evening in question, Johnson was playing an organ in the female accommodation living space when the victim entered the room.
At that point, Johnson grabbed her, pulled her onto his lap and groped her breasts over her clothes with one hand.
He proceeded to kiss her, inserting his tongue into her mouth.
The victim broke free and after kicking and screaming at Johnson, she left the room.
She later asked Johnson for a job reference, which he allegedly refused because she had refused his advances that night.
District Judge Peter Magill noted that a number of references had been received on Johnson’s behalf, with one reading: “It would be unforgivable for me to agree with anyone who tried to undermine Morgan’s character now at this time of life”.
A defence lawyer, stating that Johnson had been “maintaining his innocence throughout,” noted a number of factors from the pre-sentence report, stating that Johnson was a “low likelihood” of reoffending and was not a risk of serious harm.
He added that Johnson had a “stable family life” and had a clear record of any other offending.
Judge Magill said that while Johnson was entitled to contest the charge against him, he could not expect any reduction in sentence after having been convicted.
He commented: “You still maintain in the pre-sentence report that you did not do this, which frankly sits very ill with the fact you wrote afterwards, essentially confessing to this offence.”
Judge Magill also pointed to Johnson’s position of authority over the victim, saying: “This therefore was a breach of trust in that you took advantage of someone who was your subordinate”.
Reaching the conclusion that the only appropriate sentence was custody, Judge Magill sentenced Johnson to four months in prison and imposed the statutory provisions for sex offenders for seven months.
He also fixed bail for Johnson to appeal at £100.
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