A participant in the January 6 Capitol riot has been sentenced to life imprisonment due to offenses committed in Florida following the infamous event.

Andrew Paul Johnson, aged 45, received a life sentence as reported by the State Attorney’s Office for Florida’s Fifth Judicial Circuit on Thursday.

In February, Johnson was convicted of multiple charges, including lewd or lascivious molestation of a child under 12, molestation of a minor aged between 12 and 16, two counts of lewd or lascivious exhibition, and transmitting harmful material to a minor electronically.

The Hernando County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to a call in July 2025 regarding a sexual offense at a residence in Brooksville, Florida. Brooksville is situated roughly 50 miles north of Tampa in the state’s west-central region.

A report from a “complainant” revealed that two juvenile victims alleged inappropriate touching by Johnson. The complainant also provided deputies with a cellphone that one victim claimed Johnson had given them for personal communication.

During the investigation, authorities uncovered numerous sexually explicit messages exchanged between Johnson and one of the victims on Discord, a communication app. The convicted individual had also encouraged the victim to download another app for more private conversations and advised them to delete their messages afterward.

The state attorney’s office indicated that authorities interviewed both victims with help from the Children’s Advocacy Center of Hernando County, an organization that says it is “dedicated to reducing trauma to victims of child abuse through intervention, prevention, and education.”

“The first victim recounted specific details of events, as well as various locations where these acts occurred,” Florida’s Fifth Judicial Circuit said, with the victim reportedly adding that some “incidents” took place with the other victim also present. “Johnson would buy the victim various gifts and food in an attempt to keep the victim from reporting him.”

“The victim stated the defendant once said to never tell anyone, due to the fact that he would get into trouble,” the agency went on.

The second victim reported “several instances of inappropriate touching” by Johnson “and even corroborated statements made by the first victim.”

Both of Johnson’s young victims — a boy and a girl — testified at his trial, detailing how he used his role as a “father figure” to subject them to physical and sexual abuse and explicit messages, according to NPR. Johnson reportedly came into the children’s lives after meeting their mother at a political rally in 2023, and she let him stay on their couch, believing that he could help fix things in their home as he worked as a handyman.

By 2023, Johnson had already been charged for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot. According to a federal criminal complaint filed in October 2022, he was charged with entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly conduct in a Capitol building, and parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol building.

He initially pleaded not guilty, then changed his plea to guilty in April 2024, and then tried to withdraw that plea in August, with the final attempt being denied by a judge. He was sentenced to serve one year in prison for the first two charges and six months for the final two, with the sentences to run at the same time, followed by a year of supervised release.

Mere months into serving his sentence, however, Johnson and 1,500 other Jan. 6 riot defendants were pardoned by President Donald Trump on Jan. 20, 2025, the first day of the commander in chief’s second term. “Free! At last!” an account belonging to Johnson wrote on X the next day, according to NPR.

“We all never lost faith you would do the right thing!” the post added, referencing Trump. “And thank you too all the supporters and advocates that never gave up on us!”

The same account posted in the ensuing months about receiving restitution money from the Trump administration. “I may actually cry if this happens,” one post read. “What a journey the last 4 years have been. But I have met the best people in life thru it all and wouldn’t change any of it for the world.”