Ex Boise teacher allegedly arranged sex with teen girl. He’ll spend 90 days in jail.
A 63-year-old former Boise elementary school teacher will face five years of probation and jail time after authorities said he attempted to arrange to have sex with a child younger than 16.
Michael Lee Johnson, of Nampa, was initially arrested in March 2018 and has been awaiting trial for more than a year. On Tuesday he was sentenced after pleading guilty to attempted burglary, a charge that was amended down from felony attempted lewd conduct with a child younger than age 16. (Under Idaho code, burglary occurs anytime a person enters a location with the intent to commit a felony.)
Fourth District Judge Richard Greenwood accepted the plea from Johnson, who is a former teacher at Longfellow and Jefferson elementary schools. Johnson taught physical education in Boise and was a former assistant boys basketball coach at Borah, Boise and Capital high schools.
Greenwood sentenced Johnson to five years of felony probation and 90 days in county jail. Should he violate his probation, Johnson has an underlying prison sentence of two to five years. He will be credited for the four days he already served.
Johnson’s arrest came after authorities said he was caught interacting with an undercover police officer online. Johnson believed he was talking to a “35-year-old woman” who wanted to have sex with Johnson and her “15-year-old daughter,” the prosecutor said. Johnson was told multiple times in the conversation that the “girl” was 15, and yet he still agreed to meet the girl and her mother for sex. At that time, police arrested him and booked him into Ada County Jail.
He was one of 11 men arrested last year after a sting operation was led by the Idaho Attorney General’s Internet Crimes Against Children Unit, a collaboration of several law enforcement agencies.
The Boise School District verified Wednesday that as of June 1, 2018, Johnson was no longer an employee of the district.
This story was originally published March 27, 2019 at 11:00 AM.
