Kentucky Lawmaker Dies In Apparent Suicide Amid Accusations Of Sexual Assault
A Kentucky state lawmaker has apparently killed himself after facing several allegations in reports by the investigative arm of Louisville Public Media — the most serious of which was the alleged sexual assault of a 17-year-old girl in the basement of the church where he served as pastor.
Republican Rep. Dan Johnson, 57, was found dead Wednesday evening beside his automobile on a bridge over the Salt River in Mount Washington. Authorities had been searching for him because of a post on his Facebook page — since removed — that appeared to be a suicide note. In the post, he wrote that "The accusations from NPR are false," adding that America "will not survive this type of judge and jury fake news ..."
NPR neither investigated the story nor aired or published it. The accusations of sexual assault were part of an unflattering profile of Johnson published Monday by Louisville Public Media's Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting. The initiative is the creation of Louisville Public Media, a nonprofit 501(c)(3) corporation that operates three NPR member stations, WUOL, WFPK and WFPL.
In a reference to Johnson's penchant for calling himself "pope," the series, titled "The Pope's Long Con: A Kentucky preacher-turned-politician's web of lies," also cast doubt on his story of heroics in New York immediately after the Sept. 11 attacks as well as possible insurance fraud dating from the 1980s.
Article at:
https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/12/14/570711172/kentucky-lawmaker-dies-in-apparent-suicide-amid-accusations-of-sexual-assault?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=npr&utm_term=nprnews&utm_content=2043
