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A Warsaw man will spend eight years in prison after his guilty plea for sexual misconduct with a minor was accepted in Kosciusko Circuit Court Thursday morning.
Mark Allen Johnson Sr., 41, formerly of Warsaw and now of Mishawaka, submitted a plea agreement to Judge Rex Reed Aug. 24. In the agreement, Johnson agreed to plead guilty to one count of sexual misconduct with a minor, a Class C felony as a lesser included offense of sexual misconduct with a minor, a Class B felony.
Johnson was sentenced to eight years in prison with the final two years suspended for probation. He also was ordered to pay a $100 fine and court costs. He also will be required to register with the state as a sex offender.
Before handing down the sentence, Judge Reed said at the time of the offense, Johnson was "in a position of responsibility as it relates to the care/custody of the victim as a result of your status as one ministering to others."
In his plea agreement, Johnson agreed to plead guilty to one count of sexual misconduct with a minor, a Class C felony, as a lesser included offense of Class B felony sexual misconduct with a minor.
In return for the guilty plea, other counts against Johnson, including child molesting, a Class C felony, and child seduction, a class D felony, were dismissed.
During his plea hearing, Johnson admitted to engaging in oral sex with a boy who was more than 14 years old but less than 16.
Johnson faced the charges after being accused of engaging in oral sex with a boy in 2002 when the boy was 14 years old and in 2003 when the boy was 15.
Johnson was the pastor at the Pentecostal Church of Refuge on West Lake Street in Warsaw.
