Musician gets 3.5 years of time served for sexual abuse of minor

Dan Kalikohua Johnson, a musician who was slapped with a 10-year jail term in 2013 for sexually abusing a minor girl but whose convictions were vacated last year, entered on Tuesday a plea of no contest and was sentenced to 3.5 years of imprisonment.

Superior Court Associate Judge David A. Wiseman gave the 39-year-old Johnson credit for 1,274 days or 3.5 years of time served.

It means that Johnson will no longer serve more time in prison.

Johnson, through counsel assistant public defender Michael Sato, signed a plea deal with the government and pleaded a no contest to sexual abuse of a minor in the second degree.

In exchange, assistant attorney general Shannon Foley, counsel for the government, agreed to move for the dismissal of the remaining charges. The court granted the motion.

Wiseman placed Johnson on supervised probation for 6-and-a-half years and ordered him to pay a $1,000 fine, $1,000 in probation fees, plus $100 in court costs.

The judge required no unsupervised contact with any minor during the period of probation and ordered Johnson to continue to register with the CNMI Sex Offender Registry and submit to examinations focusing on sex offender counseling.

A review hearing will be on Oct. 4, 2016.

The Office of the Attorney General charged Johnson with attempted sexual abuse of a minor in the second degree, sexual abuse of a minor in the second degree, assault and battery, and two counts of disturbing the peace.

According to the factual basis of the plea agreement, in April to May 2009 on Saipan, Johnson touched the genitals of a girl who was under 13 years of age at that time.

In April 2013, a Superior Court jury found Johnson guilty of attempted sexual abuse of a minor in the second degree and sexual abuse of a minor in the second degree.

Wiseman, who ruled on the misdemeanor charges, found Johnson guilty of one count of assault and battery, and two counts of disturbing the peace.

The sexual abuse allegedly happened on May 17, 2009, while the attempted sexual abuse occurred on June 23, 2012.

Police said the investigation began on June 24, 2012, when they received a call about a girl who ran away from home. When a detective met and asked the girl why she ran away, she confessed that Johnson sexually abused her on May 17, 2009.

In July 2013, Wiseman sentenced Johnson to a total of 17 years in prison, all suspended except 10 years.

Johnson, through counsel, appealed to the CNMI Supreme Court.

Johnson argued, among other things, that the trial court erred in admitting several hearsay statements and by failing to issue a limiting instruction for fresh complaint evidence.

Johnson also asserted that the cumulative impact of multiple trial errors necessitated reversal.

In December 2015, the CNMI high court vacated Johnson’s convictions and ordered a new trial. The defendant then signed a plea deal with the government.