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WEST BOUNTIFUL — A former West Bountiful mayor was formally charged Friday with sexually abusing several young girls over the course of at least two decades.
Carl Matthew Johnson, 77, of Orem, was charged in 2nd District Court with nine counts of aggravated sexual abuse of a child, a first-degree felony; and one count of sexual abuse of a child, a second-degree felony. According to court records, the one second-degree felony resulted from the expiration of the statute of limitations for filing an aggravated count in that alleged incident.
Johnson, who served two terms as mayor of West Bountiful in the 1990s, and also at one time held a position of trust as a bishop for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is charged with sexually abusing three girls all under the age of 13 multiple times, dating back to 1983, charging documents state. The abuse allegedly continued into the late 1990s, according to the charges.
However, when he was arrested, Johnson told investigators he may have abused more than six victims, a police booking affidavit states. The investigation into additional charges continued Friday.
One victim told investigators "that during each of these events Johnson told her she needed to be quiet, and it was important to him but that it needed to be kept secret," according to charging documents.
In requesting that Johnson be held at the Davis County Jail without the possibility of posting bail pending trial, prosecutors noted that since Johnson's arrest on Thursday, police have been contacted by others "indicating other sexual abuse of children where he had a position of trust. Additional charges might arise after investigation."
In the affidavit, police stated that "Johnson has shown a long history of sexual abuse of children, some as young as 2 years old. Johnson admitted that he has a problem of controlling his sexual urges and has struggled with this problem for most of his life."
Charging documents state that if Johnson is convicted, imprisonment is mandatory and that he could be sentenced to up to life in prison.
