An Illinois appellate court has upheld the 67-year prison sentence imposed on a Dixon man convicted of sexually assaulting and abusing a child.

Jason E. Johnson, 53, pleaded guilty in September 2024 to predatory criminal sexual assault of a child and aggravated criminal sexual abuse. A Lee County judge sentenced him to 60 years for the predatory assault and 7 years for the aggravated abuse, to be served consecutively. It was the maximum sentence allowed under the law.

In his appeal to the Fourth District Appellate Court, Johnson argued the sentencing hearing violated his constitutional rights in two ways: the court allowed prosecutors to present evidence of other uncharged sexual crimes without the victims available for cross-examination, and victim impact statements contained inflammatory language that dehumanized him and requested a lengthy sentence.

The appellate court rejected both arguments in its ruling issued June 2.

The court found that prosecutors properly presented evidence of the other crimes through Detective Sgt. Aaron Simonton of the Dixon Police Department, who testified about Johnson’s conduct. Illinois law requires such evidence to be presented through live testimony available for cross-examination – not that the victims themselves must testify, the court said.

On the victim impact statements, the court acknowledged that they contained harsh language. One victim called Johnson “a demon who ruined my life.” Another said she hoped the judge would give him the maximum sentence. But the court found Johnson failed to prove the statements were so prejudicial that they made the sentencing fundamentally unfair. The judge, the court noted, is presumed to consider only proper evidence unless the record clearly shows otherwise.

Johnson also challenged whether his attorney properly complied with a state rule requiring defense counsel to file a motion to reconsider the sentence before appealing. The appellate court found the record was consistent with the attorney filing the required certificate before the notice of appeal, and Johnson bore the burden of proving otherwise.

The case’s history

A grand jury on May 17, 2019, indicted Johnson on four counts of predatory criminal sexual assault of a child and five counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse.

Johnson was arrested on the charges, which came seven months after Dixon Police Department investigators learned of an allegation of sexual abuse against Johnson.

A child forensic interview conducted at the Shining Star Children’s Advocacy Center in Dixon indicated Johnson had sexually abused and assaulted a girl who was between the ages of 11 and 12, and that he had done so multiple times, Lee County State’s Attorney Charles Boonstra has said.

The nine charges all involved the same victim, and they were alleged to have occurred in 2013.

Johnson pleaded guilty to two of the charges on Sept. 24, 2024, under a plea deal that dismissed the seven other counts. Before sentencing, the prosecution informed Johnson that it would be presenting evidence of other uncharged sex crimes, according to the appellate court ruling. While defense counsel objected to the introduction of the evidence, the court allowed prosecutors to present the evidence over defense counsel’s objection.

Lee County Judge Theresa Friel-Draper sentenced Johnson on Feb. 6, 2025, to 60 years in prison for predatory criminal sexual assault of a child and a consecutive seven-year prison sentence for aggravated criminal sexual abuse.

Johnson’s attorney, public defender Douglas Lathe, then filed a motion to reconsider his sentence, with Johnson saying the sentences require that he must serve 85% of the 60-year sentence and 50% of the seven-year sentence, and that the sentence is excessive in light of the evidence presented to the court.

Johnson also maintained the court did not fully consider an article of the Illinois Constitution that states “all penalties shall be determined both according to the seriousness of the offense and with the objective of restoring the offender to useful citizenship, along with other authoritative considerations in mitigation.”

According to the motion, the court should take into consideration recommendations made in a psychological and psychosexual evaluation dated Nov. 17, 2022.

The motion for reconsideration was denied on June 6, 2025, which led to the appeal to the appellate court.

Johnson currently is incarcerated at the Big Muddy River Correctional Center in Ina. His projected parole date is Nov. 17, 2073, according to IDOC records.