Following a four-day trial, a Hendersonville man who was sentenced to 15 years for the rape of a child in 2006 was found guilty again Feb. 8 for the rape of another minor and will spend the rest of his life in prison, according to a Feb. 14 news release from District Attorney Andrew Murray.
During the second week of a two-week Henderson County Superior Court term, Michael Johnson, 53, was found guilty of five counts of statutory rape of a minor by a jury that deliberated less than two hours. He was sentenced by Judge William Stetzer to five consecutive terms of 25 years minimum and 34 years maximum for a total of 125 years minimum and 170 years maximum.
The ruling comes 18 years after Johnson was sentenced to a minimum of 15 years for the rape of a 6-year-old in 2006, according to past Times-News reporting . He was originally convicted in 2002 and when given the sentence in 2006, he was credited with time already served and was released in 2016.
According to the investigation and court trial records, Johnson married the mother of the minor victim in this case in 2020. The mother then moved her minor children in with the defendant, despite knowing he was a convicted child molester that spent time in prison for the 2006 sentence, Murray said in the release.