A former U.S. Army soldier is facing a possible sentence of life in prison for shaking his newborn baby twice and sexually assaulting her mother when he was stationed in Fort Belvoir more than a decade ago.
Austin Blair Johnson pleaded guilty last Friday (May 30) to sexual abuse and two counts of assault — one of which led to the permanent disability of a baby, the U.S. Department of Justice announced in a press release.
In 2012, Austin Blair Johnson twice shook and dropped his newborn daughter, who was less than a month old at the time, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia.
On June 25, 2012, when the baby was only 16 days old, Johnson “rapidly and forcefully shook [the newborn] multiple times before letting go of her, causing her to flip and land on her head,” federal prosecutors said.
Johnson and the baby’s mother took their child to the Fort Belvoir Community Hospital emergency room, where a scan revealed that her skull had been fractured, among other “extensive injuries.” The baby was transferred to Walter Reed Medical Center, where she stayed for 10 days.
However, on the day she was discharged, Johnson again shook and dropped the baby, who was now 26 days old. Doctors “identified extensive brain damage” after the baby began experiencing seizures during a previously scheduled appointment at Fort Belvoir Community Hospital, according to the DOJ.
The newborn was placed into the custody of Child Protective Services on July 20, 2012, after she was discharged from the hospital following the second incident. She was returned to her parents’ custody approximately 14 months later.
In June 2015, the then-infant “was forced to undergo a hemispherectomy during which the entire left hemisphere of her brain was removed in an effort to control her irrepressible seizures,” prosecutors said.
“[The victim] is now legally blind, non-verbal, and the entire right side of her body is paralyzed,” federal prosecutors said. “Cognitively, [the victim] functions at the level of a mature infant.”
Johnson was also charged with sexual abuse for engaging his child’s mother in sexual activity without her consent at their Fort Belvoir home in 2013, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
“[The adult victim] protested and tried to hit Johnson to get him to stop, which he did,” the Department of Justice said.
A grand jury indicted Johnson with two counts of assault resulting in serious bodily injury and two counts of child abuse on July 2, 2024, according to court documents. He ultimately pleaded guilty to the two assault charges and an added charge of sexual abuse, waiving his right to an indictment, prosecutors said in a plea agreement.
Johnson, who faces a potential penalty of life in prison, is scheduled to be sentenced in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia on Aug. 22.
A man also named Austin Blair Johnson was sentenced to 15 years in Montana state prison in 2018 for similar assault charges for shaking his infant son, causing brain injuries. He is currently listed as being in the custody of Montana’s Department of Corrections.
