Former Iowa pastor faces 13 charges, including sex crimes against child

CHARLY HALEY ,  LINH TA   | Des Moines Register

A former Dallas Center pastor was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of sexually assaulting a child multiple times, authorities said.

Randy Johnson, 52, of Dallas Center faces 13 criminal charges. Johnson reportedly perpetrated multiple instances of sexual abuse on the 12- or 13-year-old girl during a year-and-a-half time period from 2013 to 2014, according to court records. The abuse reportedly occurred at a Dallas Center home and, in one instance, at a farm in Grimes.

Johnson was formerly the pastor of Dallas Center Church of the Brethren, said Tim Button-Harrison, district executive for the Northern Plains District Church of the Brethren, which oversees the Dallas Center church.

Button-Harrison declined to say when or how Johnson's employment at the church ceased. On Thursday morning, Johnson was still listed as the church's pastor on its website.

The Dallas Center congregation has about 30 to 50 members, Button-Harrison said.

The church's leaders respect the legal process surrounding the allegations against Johnson, Button-Harrison said, but he declined to comment further.

The Dallas County Sheriff's Office and the Dallas Center Police Department began investigating Johnson in December, according to a sheriff's office news release.

As a result of the investigation, Johnson was arrested without incident on the following charges:

• Three counts of indecent contact with a child, an aggravated misdemeanor
• Two counts of indecent exposure, a serious misdemeanor
• Four counts of sex abuse third-degree, a felony
• One count of lascivious acts with a child, a felony
• Two counts of assault with intent to commit abuse, an aggravated misdemeanor
• One count of child endangerment, an aggravated misdemeanor

Johnson was booked into the Dallas County Jail. He was scheduled to appear in court on Thursday.