It’s a tale so dramatic that Dr. Phil wants it for his nationally-syndicated TV show.
The story goes like this:
A 15-year-old Georgia girl keeps running away from home and later admits in juvenile court that she was having a sexual relationship with her friend’s 37-year-old father. And just when authorities get warrants charging the man with sex crimes, the girl and man disappear.
Then an Amber Alert for the teen leads to their discovery in Tennessee.
It sounds like the plot of a John Grisham novel, but authorities say it happened in our own backyard.
Jason Johnson of North Augusta was brought back from Tennessee on Tuesday to face the music on charges that he had a long sexual relationship with Evans runaway Calah Waskow, a cheerleader at Lakeside High School. For her part, she was taken through juvenile court and released to her parents.
And the most shocking and sad revelation wasn’t even revealed until Tuesday, when Columbia County authorities told The Jail Report that it appears Johnson was giving the girl methamphetamines during their meetings!
That is why Johnson is facing charges of contributing to the delinquency of a minor as well as child molestation, aggravated child molestation and enticing a child for indecent purposes.
There has been no word on abduction charges against Johnson because authorities say it’s conceivable that the girl consented to the Tennessee trip.
Area residents seemed sickened but also captivated by the story, with resident Karla Apple summing up the feelings of many with this Facebook comment:
“Hope they get this predator off the street for good. Grown men interested in young girls are completely disgusting, scum of the earth.”
At least one other young woman has stepped forward to say that Johnson had approached her for a sexual relationship when she was a juvenile.
Kelly Williams, 18, told WJBF-TV that she saw the Amber Alert about Waskow and immediately recognized Johnson.
She said four years ago at age 14, Johnson added her as a friend on Facebook because Williams was friends with his daughter.
“He found me on Facebook after I posted on his daughter’s timeline because she and I were talking,” Williams told WJBF-TV. “We weren’t best friends but he was pretty much suggesting that he wanted to do sexual things with me. I kind of ignored it, brushed it off, but then it got worse. He sent me pictures, stuff like that.”
Williams said the photos Johnson sent were nudes. Eventually, the older man threatened her.
She said she never alerted police and her mother simply told her to block him on Facebook. Williams brushed off the whole thing.
Reports online say that Johnson got married earlier this year. But his Facebook page has little evidence of that and shows him courting other females.
In one post from May, he said he was searching for a workout partner at the Omni in Evans:
“Only specific types of females wanted though. Not going to give my Jedi training tactics to those not worthy.”
As for Calah, she has two Facebook pages with similarly provocative poses and countless selfies.
Authorities interviewed the girl Monday and planned to sit Johnson down Tuesday night before booking him into the jail.
Meanwhile, authorities are taking calls from Inside Edition and People magazine. As for the Dr. Phil show, Calah’s parents told WRDW-TV that the show offered to pay their daughters medical bills and wanted her to appear on the show.
Sources say the Waskow family headed to Los Angeles on Tuesday to prepare to be on the Dr. Phil Show.
FOR EVEN MORE COVERAGE AND EXCLUSIVE DETAILS OF THE JASON JOHNSON CASE, PICK UP THIS WEEK’S EDITION OF THE JAIL REPORT IN LOCAL GAS STATIONS FOR $1.50.