project safe childhood
physical trainer sentenced to 15 years in prison for secretly videotaping teens
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Beth Phillips, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a former physical trainer at St. John’s Hospital was sentenced in federal court today for sexually exploiting children by secretly videotaping minor females at the hospital’s training facility.
Scott Johnson, 32, of Springfield, Mo., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Richard E. Dorr to 15 years in federal prison without parole.
On Dec. 16, 2009, Johnson was found guilty of eight counts of the sexual exploitation of a child. Johnson has been in federal custody since his trial conviction.
Johnson was a physical trainer at Healthtracks, a training facility operated by St. John’s. During the two-year period between Jan. 1, 2006, and Dec. 31, 2007, Johnson created videos of two female victims, both of whom were minors. Johnson videotaped the female victims without their knowledge or consent.
Johnson was found guilty of seven counts of sexually exploiting children related to secretly videotaping one victim, and one count of the sexual exploitation of a child related to a second victim.
In October 2008, a staff member at Healthtracks noticed a video camera on Johnson’s desk. The video tape loaded in the camera contained videos of two females disrobing and weighing themselves. Johnson was immediately suspended and, eventually terminated from his employment at Healthtracks. Springfield police officers later found additional video cassettes, which Johnson had attempted to destroy, in his trash can at his residence.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys James J. Kelleher and Randall D. Eggert. It was investigated by the Springfield, Mo., Police Department.
Project Safe Childhood
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
