2 teens testify of own abuse at trial

BY LISE FISHER

Two teenagers testified Tuesday that everyday life with a local woman who took them and other youngsters into her home included regular beatings, name-calling, forced feedings and fights with each other that were orchestrated by her.

Nellie Jasper Johnson, 60, and her adopted daughter, Colony Latrisa Johnson, 29, face multiple counts of child abuse in connection with the alleged mistreatment of 11 children, many of them brothers and sisters removed from homes around the state where they had been neglected or where abuse was suspected.

Maximum sentences for the various charges against the two Gainesville women range from five to 30 years in prison per count if they are convicted.

The abuse went on over a span of about 10 years, under the noses of authorities and community members, prosecutors told jurors in opening statements.

Asked why they didn't get help and at one point denied the abuse, the two 15-year-olds - one boy and one girl - said they were afraid - of being beaten, of being separated from their siblings who also were living at the home and of being unable to find somewhere to live.

"I always thought no one else wanted me," said the girl from the witness stand.

The boy, who testified via closed circuit television hooked up between an Alachua County courtroom and another room in the courthouse, initially told officials that marks on his body were caused by football injuries.

"I was scared she was going to find out, and I was going to get a 'whupping,' " he said about why he didn't talk about the abuse.

Because of the nature of the case and the abuse allegations, The Sun is not naming the two teenagers who testified.

Frederic Kaufman, the women's defense attorney, painted a different picture of the defendants for the jury.

Kaufman talked about Nellie Johnson's past and how she cared for her younger siblings after her mother died. Later unable to have her own children, he said, "It became a life story for Nellie, carrying for the children of others."

The Johnsons' attorney blamed one of the children living with Nellie Johnson for her legal troubles, saying that a disagreement between the girl and the woman over the child's behavior led to false allegations.

When investigators then became involved, other children in the household also changed their stories, incriminating Nellie and Colony Johnson, he said.

Kaufman said jurors will hear from the accused as well as others who maintain no one was abused and that they saw no evidence of mistreatment.

But Assistant State Attorney Teresa Drake told the jury that Nellie Johnson wore two faces. In public, she said, the woman who adopted 19 children "loved them up."

But behind closed doors, children who asked for more food were forced to eat until they became sick, called vulgar names, made to fight with each other while Nellie Johnson watched, told to stay under the bed as punishment and hit, in some cases until there was bleeding or scarring, with a board or a PVC pipe, Drake said, and the teenagers testified.

During testimony, the two teenagers also said that Colony Johnson threw the boy into a wall for punishment.

The prosecution, in opening statements, said Nellie Johnson was receiving money for the children in her care. After abuse allegations came to light and officials removed 17 children from her home in 2001, she was receiving about $85,000 tax free in state and federal funding. It also was mentioned that the adoption agency that placed 17 children with her made $119,000 or $7,000 per placement.

Over the years, more than 25 children lived with Nellie Johnson, the prosecution said. Not all are named as victims in the case.

Some children were not adopted amid allegations of abuse. Some others had previously lived with Nellie Johnson's sister but moved in with Nellie Johnson after her sister died.

The trial is expected to last about three weeks, with testimony continuing today.