Charles Edward Johnson Sr.

Coach and teacher coach Charles Johnson accused of molesting students5-15-08

Charles JohnsonFORT PIERCE - A St. Lucie County schoolteacher and coach was arrested Tuesday, accused of molesting two female students between the ages of 12 and 16.

Charles Edward Johnson Sr., 55, Fort Pierce Westwood High School math teacher and baseball coach was charged with lewd and lascivious molestation.

Johnson was the head baseball coach at Westwood for 24 years.

Charles Edward Johnson
...
Charles Edward Johnson
...
Fort Pierce Westwood High School math teacher and baseball coach Charles Edward Johnson Sr., 55, has been charged with lewd and lascivious molestation, according to the reports.

Johnson has cooperated with detectives but is denying the allegations against him, according to the reports.He posted his $150,000 bond and left the St. Lucie County Jail at 12:47 p.m. Wednesday, according to jail records.

On Wednesday, the St. Lucie County School District released a statement that Johnson has been reassigned and not in contact with students since May 9, and he will remain that way pending the completion of the criminal investigation against him.

The allegations came to light May 8 when a 15-year-old student told a school resource deputy that Johnson touched her privates, according to reports.

The girl said the incident occurred on May 5, when she skipped her regular first-period class to be in Johnson's classroom, according to the reports.

"Don't tell your momma," Johnson said after he touched her, according to the reports."I'm only playin'."

Two days later, the girl claims, Johnson grabbed her breasts from behind and lifted her off the ground to demonstrate how strong he is.
...
Distinguished Fort Pierce Coach Havert L. Fenn, 80, is among the friends standing by Johnson during the criminal investigation.

Fenn said he has known Johnson since he taught him physical education at Lincoln Park Academy in Fort Pierce and has always considered him an honorable person.

"I doubt very seriously whether the full story has been told," Fenn said Wednesday."I definitely will be supportive of him in his effort to clear his name."

Johnson has been the head baseball coach at Westwood for 24 years, first from 1979 to1994 then from 2002 to this past season.

FORT PIERCE , The limelight had always been bright and favorable for Charles Edward Johnson Sr.

He was praised for his accomplishments as baseball coach at Fort Pierce Westwood High and for being a 'wonderful' math teacher.He was celebrated along with his local-hero son, a former Florida Marlins catcher who remains one of the county's most famous athletes.

View the arrest report

Charles Edward Johnson
...
Charles Edward Johnson
...
Charles Johnson Sr., a math teacher and baseball coach, was arrested on charges that he molested two female students.Johnson was removed from contact with children Friday.
...
But the news was anything but bright Wednesday for Johnson, accused of inappropriately touching two female students at the school where he has taught and coached for more than 30 years.

Johnson, 55, was released from the St. Lucie County jail after posting $150,000 bond on two counts of lewd and lascivious molestation.

His son, Charles Jr., said Wednesday the family would pull together for their father.

'It's very unfortunate,' he said. 'As a family, we know that we'll get over this situation and we'll get through it.We know that he's innocent of all of these charges and we'll go from there.'

The elder Johnson was booked into jail Tuesday night.He could not be reached for comment after his release.

He was removed from contact with students Friday, according to St. Lucie County School District officials.

Johnson is accused of molesting a 15-year-old student and another between 12 and 16 years old, according to sheriff's records.After the first girl told a school resource deputy what had happened to her, investigators discovered the other girl, officials said.

The 15-year-old girl said that on May 5, Johnson called her into a hallway, made a lewd comment and rubbed two fingers on the front of her pants, according to the arrest report.He called her back into the hallway afterward and told her, 'Don't tell your mama.I'm only playin',' according to the report.

Two days later, according to the girl, Johnson picked her up from behind in class, grabbing her breasts in front of another student.

She reported the incidents to a resource officer last Thursday, reports said.

The other girl told detectives that Johnson had touched her on April 29.She was in his class and was wearing a polo-type shirt with the buttons undone when Johnson allegedly grabbed her breast and told her, 'Girl, you better button that up,' according to a report.

The girl said Johnson told her not to tell her mother because he was just joking around.She also said Johnson had pinched her breast last year, according to arrest records.

Both girls told authorities that Johnson would hug them and rub their shoulders and arms.

Johnson told detectives the allegations are lies.He said he had threatened to write up the 15-year-old student after she had shouted an obscenity in class.He denied touching the girl with the unbuttoned shirt, saying he 'would never touch a child like that,' records show.

Johnson told detectives he had a 'casual' relationship with students but 'would not mess with a student' or even be alone with one.

Other students reported to detectives that some kids in school were known to call Johnson a 'pervert.' One girl told an assistant principal that he once asked her if she had a boyfriend and showed her a drawer full of condoms, records show.
...
Ella Wimes, whose daughter is a junior, said Johnson is popular with students.
...
Johnson, a graduate of Lincoln Park Academy and Florida A&M University, is married with four children; Charles Jr., known as C.J., is his eldest.

He began his teaching career in St. Lucie County at Fort Pierce Central High in 1976 and moved to Westwood a year later.

He has earned positive marks every year in his teaching evaluation, according to his personnel file.
...
Johnson has coached baseball at the school for almost 25 years, taking a brief break in the 1990s.He coached his son's team in the late 1980s.

Charles Edward Johnson
...
Charles Edward Johnson
...
Fort Pierce Westwood High School math teacher and baseball coach Charles Edward Johnson Sr., 55, has been charged with lewd and lascivious molestation, according to the reports.

On Wednesday, the St. Lucie County School District released a statement that Johnson has been on reassignment away from contact with students since Friday pending a law enforcement investigation into the allegations of inappropriate behavior with students.

Johnson has cooperated with detectives but is denying the allegations against him, according to the reports.

The allegations came to light Thursday when a 15-year-old student told a school resource deputy that Johnson touched her privates, according to reports.

The girl said the incident occurred on May 5, when she skipped her regular first-period class to be in Johnson's classroom, according to the reports.

"Don't tell your momma," Johnson said after he touched her, according to the reports."I'm only playin'."

Two days later, the girl claims, Johnson grabbed her breasts from behind and lifted her off the ground to demonstrate how strong he is.
...
Detectives arrested Johnson on a warrant at his Shadow Lane home.His jail bond has been set at $150,000, according to the reports.

A man who answered the phone at another address listed under Johnson's name said the family does not currently wish to comment on the case.

Johnson has been the head baseball coach at Westwood for 24 years, first from 1979 to 1994 then from 2002 to this past season.

"I will do everything in my power to prove my innocence," Charles Edward Johnson Sr., a Fort Pierce Westwood High School math teacher and baseball coach, said in a statement released by his attorney, Richard D. Kibbey of Stuart.
...
A 15-year-old student at Westwood told a school resource deputy May 8 that Johnson touched her private parts May 5, according to a St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office report.

The girl said Johnson told her, "Don't tell your momma, I'm only playin'," according to the report.

Two days later, the girl said, Johnson grabbed her breasts from behind and lifted her off the ground.

The other girl, described in reports as being between 12 and 16, told authorities Johnson touched one of her breasts in an April 29 incident and previously pinched her breast, according to arrest records.

Johnson was arrested Tuesday on charges of lewd and lascivious molestation; he posted $150,000 bail and left the St. Lucie County Jail on Wednesday.

Also on Wednesday, the St. Lucie County School District released a statement saying Johnson had been reassigned and had not been in contact with students since May 9.
...
An attempt to reach Johnson on Friday afternoon was unsuccessful.

Johnson has been the head baseball coach at Westwood for 24 years, first from 1979 to 1994 then from 2002 to this past season.

Westwood High School principal Carl Johnson Jr. has been demoted to assistant principal after an audit found his school $25,500 in debt.

School auditors said Friday the school had received warnings to begin paying off the debt, but the debt ballooned from $19,154 to $25,563 in the 2001-2002 school year alone.

"It's easy to support children that look right, dress right and smell right," said Westwood High School principal Carl Johnson Jr. "We need that same support for all children."

In a heated race to serve the constituents of District 6 on the Memphis City School Board, Dr. Sharon A. Webb was successful in unseating long time incumbent Carl Johnson in a run -off campaign that was decided yesterday.
...
Johnson, a former high school math teacher was elected to the Memphis City School Board in 1971 and has been serving for the past 35 years.If reelected, Johnson would have been the longest serving School Board commissioner in the history of the state of Tennessee.