Hampton Park Volunteer Arrested For 26-Year-Old Sex Crime

A 58-year-old Taylors man was arrested Wednesday for allegedly initiating inappropriate sexual conduct 26 years ago with a teenage boy at a Hampton Park Baptist Church youth function.

According to the Greenville County Sheriff's Office, a sex crimes investigation was conducted after the department's Crimes Against Children Unit received a report earlier this year alleging that Kenneth Johnson had engaged in sexual behavior with a child at an Amy Street address in Taylors from June to August of 1985. Warrants indicate Johnson allegedly touched a 14-year-old boy's genitals on multiple occassions. During the time of the alleged abuse, the victim was a juvenile and an active participant in the youth group at the church, where Johnson was a volunteer assistant.

The victim has not indicated that there were any such incidences on church property.

Due to the age of the victim at the time of the incident, the appropriate charge in the the case was deemed by the Sheriff's Office to be assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature. Johnson is charged with three counts of assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature. He is being held at the Greenville Detention Center on Wednesday afternoon on $75,000 bond.