UNION GROVE, Wis.– Union Grove High School Superintendent Dr. Thomas Johnson is officially charged with two counts of possession of child pornography.
He was arrested on November 4, then released when he made a $250,000 bond. Johnson plead not guilty in court on Thursday. He is due back in court in early January for a pretrial hearing.
He could face 50 years in prison if convicted.
He is currently on unpaid leave from the Union Grove High School District.
The Letter
According to the criminal complaint, the investigation into Johnson began on October 22, when the Racine County Sheriff’s Office allegedly received an anonymous letter.
It read, in part:
“I have been having an affair with Tom Johnson for several years now. It has been on and off, but I have found that the guilt and work environment and comments that have been made need to be addressed. The issue really is that he has threatened me and said he would hurt my career but one he was passed out on the deck off the kitchen is I saw text messages from what I think are passed students or current students that are inappropriate. There were some pictures as well.
This man needs to be investigated.”
Police interviewed Johnson at his home the next day. Johnson’s wife was present for the interview. He admitted to having an affair, but was unsure who wrote the letter. He allegedly stated he could not think of anyone that would make allegations against him.
Initial Search
Authorities seized two phones from Johnson’s home that day, and he consented to a forensic examination. Investigators found that both the phones were allegedly “suspiciously clean,” and that several social media platforms had been wiped clean, deleted, or uninstalled.
The Racine investigators then informed Johnson that his phones had data deleted, and they believed this was suspicious, which Johnson allegedly agreed with.
He said he had allegedly deleted Snapchat from his phone because when he got notifications, the app would email his wife, which she would question him about. He additionally admitted to deleting internet activity, such as visits to pornographic websites, because his wife has access to his phone.
In this initial search, investigators allegedly found access logs for Snapchat activity, visits to pornographic websites, and recent search for “bury a body.”
Johnson was interviewed again on October 26, where he admitted he was having an affair and had been for six years. They had last had contact allegedly two weeks before. According to the criminal complaint, Johnson said he didn’t believe his wife or the woman had sent the initial letter.
Investigators asked Johnson if he had any inappropriate contact with any students which he denied. Racine County Sheriff’s Officer Detective Moro reviewed the body camera footage, and wrote that, in his own experience, Johnson’s “reaction to this question was in my training and experience an indication of deceit or lying.”
Johnson also allegedly was very familiar with the procedure in which police use to investigate a school official.
Findings and Arrest
Detectives acquired a warrant for a deep search of Johnson’s phones. The complaint says they found large amount of pornographic images, including ones that included children.
Investigators say the ages of the children in the photos were difficult to identify, but they estimate between middle-school and high-school aged girls.
When taken into custody and interviewed a third time, Thomas allegedly stated “this all happened because someone wrote a letter.” Detectives say they explained that whoever wrote this letter was not wrong with the information within.
Investigators confirmed through National Center for Missing & Exploited Children that the photographs were of children, and national authorities are working to identify those in the photos.
Thomas stated they were wrong and detectives explained that these photos were on his phone, and that they were of children. Thomas, allegedly, said, “Kay.”
Detectives have seized all additional computers, laptops, and iPads from Johnson for further investigation.
