Eastern Oregon man sentenced to prison for sexually abusing teenagers

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A La Grande man who sexually abused and transported two Washington minors he met on Snapchat was sentenced Wednesday to more than 12 years in federal prison.

On August 8, 2022, the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office responded to a call of two minors abandoned at Barton Park in Boring. The minors, two 15-year-old girls, told officers they met 42-year-old Albert Wayne Johnson on Snapchat, AP reported.

Johnson had driven them from Washington to Idaho to Oregon. Along the way, he sexually abused her, according to court documents. During a stop in Othello, Washington, Johnson sexually abused them at a motel and one of them at a campground near La Grande.

After arriving in Boring, Johnson left the girls at a campsite in Barton Park and never returned.

On August 30, 2022, La Grande Police, the Union County Sheriff’s Office, the Union County Probation Department and Umatilla Tribal Police located Johnson at his La Grande residence and arrested him on an outstanding warrant for a probation violation. Surveillance video from the Othello motel showed him with the two girls, documents say.

In January, Johnson pleaded guilty to transporting a minor with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity. He was sentenced to 12.5 years in prison and 10 years of supervised release.

If you or someone you know has experienced sexual assault and needs support, help is available.

You can contact the Sexual Assault Resource Center at (503) 626-9100. They are located at 4900 SW Griffith Drive Ste. 135, Beaverton, OR 97005.

The Rape, Abuse, Incest National Network (RAINN) National Sexual Assault Hotline can be reached at 800.656.HOPE (4673) or rainn.org. It is available 24/7.