Man accused of pimping teen says he was ‘counselor’ at Macedonia 17th Street Baptist Church
An Alabama man accused of pimping and having sex with a teenager who had been selling nude content on Snapchat beginning when she was just 12, claims to have been a volunteer youth pastor at Macedonia 17th Street Baptist Church for the last 12 years, where he served as a “counselor” for children aged 5 to 18.
The man, Stephen Johnson, 40, is accused of trafficking the now 17-year-old alleged victim and living off her prostitution earnings, according to court documents reviewed by The Christian Post. Macedonia 17th Street Baptist Church also did not respond to calls from CP regarding Johnson’s claims to investigators with the Plantation Police Department in Florida.
According to investigators, they responded to an advertisement for an escort online on Oct. 23, and an undercover officer was directed to an apartment in Plantation. When the officer arrived at the apartment “a light skinned black female” wearing a T-shirt and short shorts answered the door. The female appeared to be the female in the escort ads so the officer disclosed his identity and asked if anyone else was inside the apartment with her. She confirmed that Johnson was in the apartment and police found him “lying on the floor mattress in the master bedroom.”
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The teenager subsequently told officers that she started selling nude content on Snapchat while living in Maryland when she was about 12 years old. She eventually met a person she thought was a woman named Antania online and asked her to help sell her content. She said that during their online relationship, which lasted about four to five years until she turned 17 in 2023, she revealed her age to Antania when she was 13, but Antania did not seem to care.
In September 2023, in a bid to escape homelessness after living with an abusive caretaker, the teenager decided she would move to Birmingham, Alabama, to stay with Antania. She said Antania purchased her plane ticket but when she got to Birmingham she discovered that Antania was actually Johnson.
She said Johnson offered to help her sell her body to make more money beyond the images she was already selling online, and he posted escort ads for her and directed her to engage in commercial sex acts. She later moved to South Florida after she got accepted into Nova South Eastern University. Johnson followed her and continued to direct her to engage in prostitution, the teenager said.
According to investigators, Johnson had sex with the alleged victim when she was 17 for $800. She admitted to engaging in commercial sex acts in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Washington D.C., Virginia, North Carolina, Alabama and Florida.
In his interview with investigators, Johnson said he met the teenager approximately four to five years ago (2019-2020) when he was selling nude content on Snapchat with a black female possibly named Antania Hodges. He said she needed assistance with selling her nude content and he offered to help.
Johnson initially told investigators that he thought the alleged victim was 18 when he started selling her content, but he admitted later to police that she started sending him content when she was 14. He also admitted to posting escort advertisements for her online between September 2023 to January of this year, while she was only 17 years old.
He also boasted that she made approximately $105,000 during that time and he retained 40% of the income she generated.
Johnson, who told police that he was unemployed and had previously worked at the Dollar Store and Piggly Wiggly grocery store, admitted that he was currently a volunteer youth pastor at Macedonia 17th Street Baptist Church overseeing youths aged 5 to 18. He also stated that he had been in the role for 12 years and served as a “counselor” for children.
He told police that during his time with the alleged victim in Alabama, their relationship was sometimes turbulent. She once allegedly caused $7,000 in damage to a rental car and only gave him $200 toward the damage.
He said she eventually paid him back with sexual favors. Johnson said he was able to pay for the damage to the rental car after receiving a $17,000 check from the government “out of nowhere.”
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