WASHINGTON — Nearly 18 years after a 12-year-old girl was attacked by a stranger as she walked to school in D.C., the man responsible has been sentenced to prison.
According to the Department of Justice, 42-year-old Marquette E. Johnson was sentenced Friday to 27 years in prison and five years of supervised release for first-degree sexual abuse while armed and first-degree child sexual abuse while armed. He pleaded guilty to the charges in July.
Around 8:30 a.m. on Nov. 28, 2005, the young victim was walking to school when Johnson pulled up next to her, pointed a semiautomatic pistol or imitation pistol at her, and told her to get in his minivan or he would kill her.
The child followed his directions and got into the car where Johnson drove her to an alley behind the 1300 block of Morris Road, SE. He then forced her to get in the backseat and sexually assaulted her. Afterward, he drove back to the area he took the girl from and told her something to the effect of, “See, I told you, you wouldn’t miss school.”
When the girl got to school she told a teacher and a DC Police officer stationed at the school what happened.
DNA evidence later matched the DNA profile for Johnson, who is a convicted offender and a complete stranger to the victim before she was attacked.
Following his release, Johnson will be required to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.
A bill by DC Councilmember Charles Allen directs the Department of Forensic Services to create permanent storage space for kits to be stored indefinitely.
