The parents of an adopted 7-year-old boy who died of neglect eight years ago received the maximum sentence of one year in custody — an appropriate punishment given their weekslong failure to intervene with medical care, the judge said.
Timothy and Sarah Johnson, formerly of Plymouth but residents of New Zealand, where they moved shortly after the death, pleaded guilty to gross misdemeanor child neglect in connection with the March 2015 death of the son, Seth, who endured extensive trauma from an inflamed pancreas and possible infections until he died. In his final days, the ailing boy was left in the care of his 16-year-old brother while the Johnsons attended a wedding out of town. Hennepin County District Judge Carolina Lamas rejected the Johnsons' repeated requests for probation, opting for an executed sentence, which must be served in its entirety at the Hennepin County workhouse.
"The child was in terrible physical condition by the time he died," Lamas said. "The majority of cases that are charged like yours involve facts of children being left alone for too long, being left in a car or otherwise uncared for. … It is clear the facts in your case could not be more onerous than other similar charged offenses."
Lamas handed down the sentence in a virtual court hearing Tuesday afternoon with the Johnsons appearing from Yakima, Wash. Someone could be heard crying before defense attorney John Leunig begged Lamas to reconsider. He said one year locked up for the Johnsons will tear the family apart — they have many children, several of them adopted.
"I would hugely, from the bottom of my heart, urge the court to reconsider this sentence," Leunig said. "I've been doing this for 35 years and handled thousands of cases including other cases similar in nature to this. … I am shocked. I just, I can't believe that they are getting the maximum sentence under these circumstances."
Lamas responded that she, too, has been doing this for a long time and carefully considered her decision.
Their adopted son was previously named Mariano, according to a child protection investigation with the parents a day after the death. They adopted him in July 2012 through the White Earth Band of Ojibwe Tribal Court along with his sister. Both children were diagnosed with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders, which for the boy resulted in self-harm behaviors. They said he would scratch himself, throw himself down stairs and bang his head against the wall. But the investigation resulted in no findings of maltreatment by his adoptive parents.
Resolution of the case was long delayed because the family moved to New Zealand, where they lived for more than seven years after the boy's death. Defense attorney Gordon Mohr said the Johnsons didn't flee there, but left after the investigation found no wrongdoing and the case was closed.
Nearly 20 letters from around the Twin Cities, North Carolina, Washington and New Zealand vouched for the Johnsons, saying they are wonderful people who serve their church and community. A presentence investigation by Hennepin County echoed those sentiments and recommended probation.
"[The] letters stress that you're good people and have a lot of remorse for what happened and I think your remorse is evident," Lamas said. "But the truth is that every day in my courtroom I see good people who made a mistake and mistakes have consequences. Often the mistakes that I see in criminal cases are momentary lapses in judgment or split-second decisions that are wrong. In your situation, however, the neglect lasted for a minimum of weeks."
On the morning of March 30, 2015, the Johnsons found the boy unresponsive on a mattress with vomit on his face. Police arrived at their home in the 6100 block of N. Vicksburg Lane where Timothy Johnson was trying to resuscitate the boy on the bathroom floor. The boy had many bruises, sores, blisters — various injuries noted by the medical examiner.
His cause of death was ruled acute pancreatitis with possible sepsis.
Lamas told the Johnsons they weren't charged with murder, manslaughter or even felony-level child neglect. They faced gross misdemeanor charges of child neglect, to which they pleaded guilty, and that's what their sentencing reflects.
Timothy Johnson, 45, told Lamas that he is Native American and they answered the call for families to step up and help Native American children who needed foster homes.
"Our son had issues that made it difficult to determine his mental, physical, emotional and medical state. These conditions also caused many behavioral issues that would not be present to a typical child," he said.
"We thought we were good people. We thought we were good parents. The reality is we got it wrong. … The reality is that it was within our abilities to seek medical attention but we chose to wait. We thought we were faced with behavioral issues, not medical ones."
Sarah Johnson, 44, said tearfully to the judge that they are broken and imperfect.
"I want you to know that we carry the guilt of losing our son every single day, and that we wish more than anything we would have made different choices."
Lamas said she is allowing the Johnsons to serve their time in the county workhouse one at a time "so that you're not both away from your families at the same time." She is not allowing electronic home monitoring or community service in lieu of the workhouse.
Sarah Johnson will turn herself in within 60 days. Timothy Johnson will serve his sentence afterward with credit for having served 38 days.
