A Florida handyman who was previously convicted for his role in the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol and later pardoned by President Donald Trump has been sentenced to life in prison for child sex abuse. Andrew Paul Johnson, 45, received the life sentence on Thursday after being found guilty of molesting two children and transmitting harmful material to a minor. The ruling was delivered by Hernando County Circuit Judge Stephen Toner following Johnson’s conviction on multiple serious charges.

Johnson was convicted last month on two counts of lewd or lascivious molestation of a child and one count of electronically transmitting material harmful to a minor, according to prosecutors in Florida’s Fifth Judicial Circuit. Authorities said the investigation into the abuse allegations began in July 2025 after one of the victims reported the incidents to sheriff’s deputies. The victim told investigators that the abuse began around April 2024, months before Johnson was sentenced for his earlier conviction related to the US Capitol riot.

Investigators said Johnson also attempted to manipulate one of the victims by promising financial benefits in the future. According to a sheriff’s office report, he told the child that he expected to receive compensation as a pardoned January 6 defendant and would include the victim in his will to inherit any remaining money. Authorities believe the statement was intended to discourage the child from revealing the abuse.

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Law enforcement officials also uncovered sexually explicit messages exchanged between Johnson and one of the victims on the Discord messaging platform. Prosecutors said Johnson encouraged the victim to download another application for more private conversations and advised them to delete their messages afterward. These communications formed part of the digital evidence presented during the investigation and trial.

Johnson had previously pleaded guilty to four misdemeanour charges connected to the January 6 Capitol riot, where supporters of former president Donald Trump stormed the US Capitol building. In August 2024, Chief US District Court Judge James Boasberg sentenced him to one year in prison for those offences. Johnson had attempted to withdraw his guilty plea, claiming he had been pressured into it, but the court rejected his request.

Prosecutors said Johnson had marched to the Capitol after attending Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally near the White House and entered the building through a smashed office window while carrying a bullhorn. Court records state that he shouted at police officers and resisted efforts to disperse the crowd during the chaos. Despite later receiving a pardon as part of Trump’s sweeping clemency for more than 1,500 January 6th defendants, Johnson has now been sentenced to life imprisonment for the unrelated child sex abuse crimes.

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