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	Ex-Choir Director Admits Child Abuse He Reverses His 2003 Plea and a Judge Sentences Him to 8 Years in Prison. By Sandy Hodson Times-Union September 14, 2007 http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/091407/geo_199360572.shtml Augusta - A former Augusta church choir director and teacher's aide admitted Wednesday what he has denied for years - that he is a child molester. For taking responsibility for what he did, Carlton Johnson, 46, was sentenced to eight years in prison followed by seven years' probation by Superior Court Judge J. Carlisle Overstreet. Johnson was back in court because the Georgia Court of Appeals reversed his conviction in January. The court ruled that Johnson was unfairly convicted in early 2003 because Judge Overstreet forced his defense attorney to try the case after the attorney told the judge he wasn't prepared. Johnson's eight-year sentence was shorter than the 10-year prison term he received in January 2003 for child molestation. At that sentencing, Johnson said he believed he had been a help to the victim's family. Wednesday, he apologized to the victim and his parents. In March 2002, Johnson was a choir director at Good Shepherd Baptist Church, which the 14-year-old victim attended with his family. After his sister complained to their parents that Johnson propositioned her, the boy told his parents that Johnson had committed a sex act on him. In March 1994, Johnson was working as a teacher's aide when a parent told sheriff's investigators that Johnson had fondled a 6-year-old boy, according to reports in The Augusta Chronicle. Johnson was tried and acquitted of sexual battery in that case.
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