News Story on Strahan Trial

This is the story that appeared in the Wise County Messenger on October 12, 2008, after the Strahan trial in Decatur.

WCMessenger.com News Headlines
Strahan receives 4 life sentences
By Chris Butler
Published Sunday, October 12, 2008

A Newark man was sentenced to four life sentences Thursday after a Wise County jury found him guilty on four counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child.

Johnny Strahan, 40, was also found guilty on seven charges of possession of child pornography and sentenced to 10 years on each count.In both cases, jurors gave Strahan the maximum punishment allowed under the law. District Judge John Fostel ordered the sentences be stacked rather than run concurrent. Strahan will have to serve at least 30 years for each life sentence. In all, Strahan, who has been jailed since April of 2007, will have to serve 144 years before he would be eligible for parole, District Attorney Jana Jones said.The jury of eight women and four men deliberated for about an hour before announcing the guilty verdicts.

The trial began Tuesday, with Strahan issuing a plea of not guilty to each charge. He told Fostel that he did not want to testify on his own behalf. TestimonyA 14-year-old girl testified that she was living with her maternal grandparents at the time Strahan sexually abused her on multiple occasions. According to the arrest affidavit in the case, the girl said she was abused since around the age of 9. Strahan was an older family member who was also living at the house. The girl became emotional during her testimony and her eyes sometimes faced the floor as she talked about him.She didn't tell anyone in her family about the abuse because she said she was afraid. She said in her testimony that she often saw Strahan act aggressive with other people, and she feared he would hit her if she told anyone what was happening. She also witnessed Strahan looking at child porn on his computer, according to her testimony. The girl eventually told a neighbor about the abuse. The neighbor said she immediately called the authorities.

The girl's biological mother testified that she left the girl and her other daughter, now 17, with their maternal grandparents in Newark because she suffered from bipolar disorder and couldn't care for her children. She also said that she once had a sexual relationship with Strahan while she was married to another man, only a few weeks before she learned she was pregnant with her younger daughter. She said the 14-year-old girl resembles Strahan, adding he is probably her biological father, although she isn't positive.

Prosecutors also introduced seven pieces of evidence of child pornography. Investigator Brian Norris said he conducted a search of Strahan's room and found several computers and pornographic material. He found a Bowie-type knife under the mattress. Norris collected a computer as evidence.John Day, with the Secret Service North Texas Electronic Crimes Task Force, said he found 1,050 images on the hard drive of Strahan's computer, and he guessed about 900 images contained child pornography.

Jurors were then shown the seven images from a projector onto a screen. Panels were placed in the windows of the doors entering the courtroom as to not offend anyone passing by in the hallway, prosecutors said.

Closing Arguments
In closing arguments, defense attorney Bill Ray told jurors that prosecuting attorneys Paige McCormick and Kevin Henry didn't prove that Strahan was guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of any of the charges.

"No one proved that John Strahan was the only person who had access to (his) room," Ray said. "There were six or seven people living in that house at the time. Sure, we have a little girl here who looks like her life has fallen apart, but that doesn't prove anything." Henry, however, said that Ray's closing arguments were "unbelievably hard to listen to." "What else can you say when you represent one of the biggest perverts in Wise County?" said Henry. "He is one of the lowest forms of perversion. Witness after witness told us that he always keeps the door to his bedroom locked. "Nevertheless, I can't prove to you that gremlins from the Kremlin didn't come in to that room and put those pics on that computer," he continued. "I would ask you to use your common sense." Henry went on to describe Strahan's bedroom as "a chamber of horrors."

Life in Prison
After returning the guilty verdicts, jurors next had to decide Strahan's punishment: life in prison. During the punishment phase, the 17-year-old girl testified that Strahan began sexually abusing her when she was 11 years old, several years before he began abusing her younger sister. She also testified that he forced her to wear red thong panties when he molested her. Law enforcement officials later found those panties underneath Strahan's mattress.

Aggravated sexual assault is a first degree felony, and possession of child pornography is a third degree felony.

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