Oakland

Oakland Man Convicted of Molesting 3 Young Family Members

A 37-year-old man was convicted on Friday of 12 felony counts for molesting his half-brother, stepsister and a cousin at the family's home in Oakland over a 12-year period.

Jurors deliberated for less than a full day before announcing their verdict against Bostyon Johnson, who faces a lengthy state prison term when he's sentenced by Alameda County Superior Court Judge Thomas Reardon on March 15.

Among the charges for which Johnson was convicted are oral copulation with a child under the age of 14, lewd acts with a child and continuous sexual abuse on the three alleged victims.

Alameda County prosecutor Peter McGuiness told jurors in his opening statement that instead of protecting his younger family members from the evils of the world Johnson repeatedly molested them over the course of many years.

McGuiness said Johnson "preyed on them" and "did evil things to them for his own sexual gratification."

McGuiness said the three victims "had to live with the shame and embarrassment" of being molested and asked jurors to hold Johnson accountable for his actions.

McGuiness said Johnson's family life is complicated because two of the alleged victims are his half-brother, identified in court documents as John Doe, and his stepsister, Jane Doe 2, and they became Johnson's stepchildren when he married their mother, Robin Johnson, who previously had been his stepmother.

Bostyon Johnson also was convicted of molesting their cousin, Jane Doe 1, who was a minor at the time.

McGuiness said Johnson's biological father and Robin Johnson took him into their home in Oakland in 2000, when he was 18.

Bostyon Johnson later formed a relationship with his stepmother and eventually they got married after his father found about the relationship and left their house.

The sexual abuse allegations surfaced after Robin Johnson was struck and killed by a CHP motorcyclist while she was jaywalking on West MacArthur Boulevard near Market Street in Oakland at about 10 p.m. on Aug. 10, 2012.

McGuiness said when Bostyon Johnson's father left and he married his stepmother, "He became the man of the house and had constant access to the other children."

McGuiness also alleged that Robin Johnson turned a blind eye to Bostyon Johnson's sexual assaults by telling them that they must have been dreaming when they said he had abused them.

Johnson's half-brother, who is now 23, was about 8 years old when Johnson started molesting him, McGuiness said. Johnson's half-sister, who is now 26, also was first molested when she was about 8, according to McGuiness.

Johnson's cousin, who is now 18, was first sexually assaulted by Johnson when she was age 12, McGuiness said.

Defense attorney Kellie Blumin said in her opening statement that the charges against Johnson are without merit and alleged that Johnson's family members made up the allegations because they blamed him when their father moved out and their mother was killed by the CHP motorcyclist.

This was Johnson's second trial. His first case ended in a mistrial last May with jurors deadlocked 11-1 in favor of convicting him.

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