Pedophile who stole dead child’s identity arrested 30 years after fleeing from prison

MACON, Ga. (TCN) -- A 70-year-old convicted pedophile who escaped custody in Oregon in 1994 has been captured in Georgia nearly 30 years later.

According to the Oregon Department of Corrections , on Nov. 29, 1994, Steven Johnson fled from a work crew at the Mill Creek Correctional Facility in Salem, Oregon. U.S. Marshals said he was serving a sentence for sexual abuse and sodomy at the time.

The Oregon Department of Corrections posted a bulletin in 2019, explaining that Johnson was a fugitive and a pedophile who "presents a high probability of victimizing preteen boys."

On July 16, U.S. Marshals arrested Johnson in Macon, Georgia, on an Oregon warrant for escape. Investigators learned he had been living there since 2011 under the alias William Cox.

Further investigation revealed Johnson allegedly stole the identity of a child who died in Texas in January 1962. Johnson reportedly obtained the child’s birth certificate and Social Security number in 1995 before getting a Georgia driver’s license in 1998.

Authorities booked Johnson into the Bibb County Jail, and he will be extradited back to Oregon.

According to the Oregon Department of Corrections, the Mill Creek Correctional Facility opened in 1929 and closed in June 2021. It was reportedly an unfenced minimum-security prison.

MORE:

• U.S. Marshals Arrest Oregon Fugitive in Middle Georgia 30 Years after Escape from Prison Work Detail - U.S. Marshals Service Southeast Regional Fugitive Task Force
• After 30 years, one of Oregon DOC's Most Wanted Fugitives has been arrested in the state of Georgia - Oregon Department of Corrections
• Wanted: Escaped Prisoner - Oregon Department of Corrections, 1/2/2019