A former U.S. Army private, Austin Blair Johnson, has been sentenced to 15 years in federal prison after being convicted of two counts of assault resulting in serious bodily injury and one count of sexual abuse. This new sentence will be served consecutively to a 15-year term Johnson is already serving for assaulting an infant under Montana law.
Court documents detail that on June 24, 2012, while stationed at Fort Belvoir, Johnson was caring for his premature daughter, identified as Minor Victim 1 (MV1), who was just 15 days old. When the child continued to cry despite his efforts to calm her, Johnson forcefully shook her several times and then let go, causing her to fall and hit her head.
Johnson subsequently told the child’s mother, referred to as Adult Victim 1 (AV1), that he had accidentally dropped MV1 and tried to break her fall. The parents took MV1 to the Fort Belvoir Community Hospital where she was found with bruises and bleeding. A CT scan revealed a fractured skull. She was later transferred to Walter Reed Medical Center’s Pediatric Intensive Care Unit for further treatment.
After being discharged from Walter Reed ten days later, MV1 suffered another assault by Johnson when left in his care again. The following day at a pediatric appointment at Fort Belvoir Community Hospital, MV1 began having seizures and was sent back to the emergency room before being transferred to Children’s National Medical Center. There doctors found additional injuries including another skull fracture and extensive brain damage.
Following this second hospitalization, MV1 remained in Child Protective Services custody for about 14 months before returning home. On June 22, 2015—shortly after turning three—she underwent surgery removing the left side of her brain due to uncontrollable seizures. As a result of these assaults, MV1 is now legally blind, non-verbal, paralyzed on one side of her body, and functions cognitively at the level of an infant.
Johnson has also been ordered by the court to pay over $1.1 million in restitution.
In addition to these assaults on his daughter, Johnson was also convicted for sexually abusing AV1 in their residence on Fort Belvoir in 2013 after she refused his requests for intimacy.
Erik S. Siebert, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Reid Davis from the FBI Washington Field Office; and Jake Cameron from the Department of the Army Criminal Investigation Division announced the sentencing following Senior U.S. District Judge Claude M. Hilton’s decision.
“Erik S. Siebert, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Reid Davis, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Washington Field Office’s Criminal Division; and Jake Cameron, Special Agent in Charge of the Washington Field Office, Department of the Army Criminal Investigation Division, made the announcement after sentencing by Senior U.S. District Judge Claude M. Hilton.”
Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexander E. Blanchard prosecuted this case.
Further information about this case can be found on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia, or through related court documents available via PACER by searching Case No. 1:24-cr-151.
