A Shreveport man was convicted of aggravated rape of a child under the age of 13 in a trial that lasted a week in Caddo District Court.
Edward Keith Johnson, 55, faces a mandatory life sentence in prison, without the possibility of probation, parole or suspension of sentence when he returns to face District Judge John Mosely Jr. at his sentencing, scheduled for September 11, 2017.
The eight-woman, four-man jury deliberated less than two hours before returning with its verdict that Johnson had repeatedly sexually abused his male victim, a relative by marriage, numerous times over several months prior to March 2015. That was when the 6-year-old victim finally told his grandmother of the oral and anal rapes he had suffered, as he testified to the court, “too many to count.” The rapes occurred at Johnson’s residence on Charles Street in Shreveport, at a shop in Bossier City and in the parking lot of a local supermarket, the court was told. The grandmother reported the attacks to authorities and Johnson was arrested in April 2015.
The trial began August 7, 2017, and concluded August 14, 2017. During it, witnesses included not only the victim, but also a forensic interviewer from the Gingerbread House, a pediatric expert, the victim’s grandmother, the victim’s therapist and the lead detective in the investigation.
Johnson was prosecuted by assistant district attorneys Britney A. Green and Pam R. Moser. He was defended by Michael Enright and Michelle Andrepont.