A dedicated volunteer youth pastor has confessed to collaborating with seven females, one of whom is a teenager, to participate in commercial sex acts, as revealed in arrest documents.
Authorities took Stephen Dewayne Johnson into custody for one count of third-degree felony related to profiting from prostitution, according to his booking report. A 40-year-old man from Birmingham, Alabama, has been taken into custody at the Paul Rein Detention Facility located in Pompano Beach, Florida.
On October 24, a decision was made by Broward County Committing Magistrate Judge Michele McCaul Ricca to set a bond at $500,000 for him. If released, Johnson would be monitored using an electronic tracking device.
An undercover detective approached a two-bedroom apartment in Plantation, Florida, where he reported encountering a teenager he identified from online escort advertisements, as detailed in a six-page complaint affidavit.
The detective found Johnson sprawled on the floor mattress in the master bedroom.
Johnson, who was unemployed at the time of his arrest, informed the police that he had dedicated the past 12 years as a volunteer youth pastor at Macedonia 17th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, continuing to engage with children aged five to 18. He referred to himself as a “counselor” for children, according to the affidavit.
A young girl, whose identity has been withheld, informed the investigator that she had been distributing explicit material of herself on Snapchat since the age of 12 while living in Maryland. She also mentioned that she subsequently connected with a woman online named Antania, who proposed assistance with her sales. She mentioned that they collaborated for several years without ever crossing paths.
In September 2023, when she was 17 and facing homelessness after escaping an abusive caretaker, the teen reported that Antania bought her a plane ticket to Birmingham.
The teenager found out that Johnson was impersonating Antania and started instructing her to participate in commercial sex acts, according to the affidavit. In the following months, she stated that Johnson transported her between Maryland and Alabama for the purpose of participating in commercial sex acts.
Johnson subsequently traveled to Florida after she gained admission to Nova Southeastern University, allegedly to continue benefiting from her activities, according to the affidavit. It claims he was responsible for creating her advertisements, communicating with potential clients, and taking a significant portion of her earnings.
Authorities discovered her advertisements across several states, according to the affidavit, which indicates that the teenager claimed Johnson instructed her to engage in paid sexual activities in Alabama, Florida, Maryland, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Washington, D.C.
In a recorded statement made without legal representation and detailed in the affidavit, Johnson informed investigators that he began managing her explicit content when she was just 14 years old. He asserted that she had been collaborating with a 27-year-old individual referred to as Antania Hodges.
He asserted that following her relocation to Birmingham, the 17-year-old reportedly earned $105,000 from commercial sex acts over a span of several months, according to the affidavit, and that he had engaged in sexual relations with her on two occasions while she was still a minor.
The judge has imposed restrictions on Johnson, forbidding him from any contact with the teenager or other minors, and has also banned him from using or possessing devices that provide internet access.
As of Tuesday, Oct. 29, there was no information available on the online court docket regarding any plea in the case, the date of the next scheduled hearing, or the identity of Johnson’s lawyer.