The youth pastor from Birmingham faces prison time in Florida; Charged with human trafficking of minors and “living on the income of a prostitute”

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBRC) – A Birmingham youth pastor faces up to five years in prison on charges that he trafficked a minor and profited from her income over several years, including while in Birmingham.

According to a report by WSVNStephen Johnson, a pastor and consultant from Alabama, a FOX affiliate in Florida, allegedly profited from the earnings of a teenage girl he brought to Florida.

Investigators say Johnson first contacted the victim online when she was just 12 years old. Authorities allege the victim sold explicit content online until she was 17, with Johnson allegedly relocating her to Florida and taking 40% of her earnings.

Police also report that Johnson is suspected of additional sex crimes across the state, although Birmingham police have said he is not currently under investigation locally.

Carrolyn Potter, CEO of Birmingham-based advocacy group WellHouse, which focuses on victims of sex trafficking, provided insight into the challenges victims face when speaking out against their abusers.

“These young people tend to have been victimized in their younger childhood, and that makes them very vulnerable to someone who is very good at getting them to trust them,” Potter said. “We live here in Alabama, in the Bible Belt. We still find it very, very difficult to believe that a pastor of all people would do something like that to a child, and yet it happens.”

Court documents show Johnson is prohibited from contacting minors and from using devices with internet access.

The church where Johnson served as a youth pastor was not identified, but prosecutors say he worked with children ages five to 18 for 12 years.

Johnson is being held on a $500,000 bond in Broward County, Florida.

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