Man, 75, charged in sexual abuse

Published 10:27 pm Thursday, February 12, 2009

EVERETT — Reuben Melvin Johnson fell asleep in court Thursday while waiting to answer to allegations he had sexually abused a relative for nearly a decade.

An attorney shook the 75-year-old Monroe man to wake him up. Johnson then pleaded not guilty in Snohomish County Superior Court to several sex crimes, including first-degree rape of a child.

Johnson is accused of sexually abusing a girl, then 5, beginning in the early 1990s. Prosecutors allege that the abuse lasted until about 2000.

Snohomish County deputy prosecutor Mark Roe scrambled to charge Johnson last week. The statute of limitations would have run out this week.

Johnson on Thursday was allowed to remain free, and was ordered not to have any contact with children or go anywhere where children congregate.

Snohomish County sheriff’s detectives began investigating Johnson after one of his relatives told police she was abused by him when she was a child, Roe wrote in charging documents. Other relatives may have been abused, Roe wrote, “but as is often typical, it was all kept a secret.”

Detectives reported that Johnson told them his touching the girl “got out of hand,” and she would not lie about the abuse, according to court documents. He also allegedly told them he knows “it was an absolute sin,” Roe wrote.

Johnson also allegedly admitted abusing other relatives when they were children. The victims are now in their 40s and 50s, according to court documents.

“As with most who sexually abuse children, his victims were those close to him,” Roe wrote.

Johnson told the detectives he was ready to face the consequence of his actions, according to court papers.

“As is also very common in these situations, some of his victims simply want him to get help,” Roe wrote.

Roe declined to answer specific questions about Johnson’s case.

Most sexual abuse is perpetrated by people the victim knows, he said.

“Sex offenders are generally the people at the Thanksgiving table — dad, uncle, mom’s boyfriend, the neighbor or grandpa,” Roe said. “People may think it’s the bogeyman or the masked stranger. That happens but it’s exceptionally rare.”

At least 90 percent of sex offenders abuse relatives or someone in their care or household.

“We need the public to know that,” Roe said. “We need people to know who sex offenders really are.”

Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463, hefley@heraldnet.com.