Austin Blair Johnson, Assault and Rape, Virginia 2024

Alexandria, Va. — A former U.S. Army private was sentenced to 15 years in prison for two counts of assault resulting in serious bodily injury and one count of sexual abuse.

Austin Blair Johnson, a former U.S. Army private, was sentenced to serve 15 years consecutively to a 15-year sentence he is currently serving for assault on an infant.

According to court documents, on June 24, 2012, Johnson was watching his infant daughter, who was born prematurely only 15 days earlier, when he shook her multiple times before letting her go, causing her to flip and land on her head. He then picked her up and ran with her upstairs to a bedroom where he woke her mother, telling her that he had accidentally dropped her.

Johnson's daughter was hospitalized for 10 days, diagnosed with extensive injuries, including a fractured skull and brain damage. She was forced to undergo a hemispherectomy and is now legally blind, non-verbal, and paralyzed on the right side of her body.

In addition to his assaults on his daughter, Johnson also raped an adult woman at their residence on Fort Belvoir in 2013.

Alexandria U.S. Attorney Erik S. Siebert and FBI Washington Field Office's Criminal Division Special Agent in Charge Reid Davis made the announcement after sentencing by Senior U.S. District Judge Claude M. Hilton. Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexander E. Blanchard prosecuted the case.

Austin Blair Johnson was ordered to pay over $1.1 million in restitution as part of his sentence.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-edva/pr/former-fort-belvoir-soldier-sentenced-15-years-prison-assaulting-and-permanently