Columbia County District Attorney Bobby Christine not only spends his days prosecuting criminals, he keeps abreast of the actions of the Georgia Board of Pardons and Parole so that the taxpayers do not have to.
Now, he is calling on the citizenry to help keep a serial rapist behind bars to serve his original life sentences.
We, as the public, need to heed Christine’s advice.
At the age of 61, Willie Lee Johnson may no longer be a monster, but in his early adulthood, he committed monstrous acts.
In 1986, Johnson was convicted not only of sexual assault but other crimes as well. His depravity was showcased to a shocked community, and no appellate court has overturned the jury’s verdict, nor lessened the original sentence.
Johnson’s crimes were so brutal that the judge sentencing him gave him five consecutive life terms and tacked on an additional 40 years for good measure.
No matter the crime, life without the possibility of parole is not permissible in Georgia unless capital punishment is on the table. However, the reasonable person should infer that at least one of those life sentences would last, well, a lifetime.
In 2022, Assistant District Attorney Natalie Paine argued successfully to keep Johnson behind bars.
“This man is a serial rapist. My experience as a prosecutor leads me to opine that this man possesses all of the traits of someone who simply cannot resist his urges,” Paine wrote to the parole board.
We implore all of our readers to take a moment and send a message to the Georgia Department of Pardons and parole’s website and urge the board to rescind their decision of “temporary clemency” for Johnson.
The website is easy to navigate, simply go to the “clemency and parole consideration” section on the right, under the picture image and use “Johnson, Willie L. 201177” as a reference to document your disapproval of releasing this man back into any community where he might once again become a monster.
Our DA Bobby Christine is right: justice is a team effort, so please do your part.
