A D.C. man who lured a 15-year-old girl into his car, then kidnapped her 14-year-old friend at gunpoint, will spend 17 years in federal prison.
U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly sentenced Keishawn Johnson, 23, to 204 months on Tuesday, Sept. 29, for kidnapping while armed and sexual exploitation of a child, the U.S. Attorney's Office for D.C. announced. Johnson will also serve 10 years of supervised release after his prison term.
Johnson pleaded guilty to both charges on Jan. 21 before Judge Kollar-Kotelly.
How the kidnapping unfolded
According to court documents, Johnson tricked the 15-year-old into his car in September 2024 by falsely telling her that her 14-year-old friend was inside. He held the older girl against her will and demanded she help him find a missing firearm.
When the girl's mother tried to pull her from the vehicle at a gas station, Johnson drove away with the teenager still inside.
Johnson then used the 15-year-old's phone to lure her 14-year-old friend to a location in the District. There, Johnson and accomplice Antoine Jones pointed firearms at the younger girl and forced her into a vehicle.
Police arrived as the abduction was underway. The older teenager was left behind while Johnson fled with the younger girl.
Johnson held the 14-year-old overnight, driving her to locations across D.C. and Maryland while searching for the firearm. He assaulted her during that time, according to court papers.
Police spotted Johnson the following afternoon. He fled with the girl still in the car and crashed the vehicle before running on foot. Officers recovered the girl at the crash scene.
Investigators also found a phone containing video Johnson had recorded weeks earlier showing him sexually abusing the 14-year-old.
Accomplice sentenced to 9.5 years
Jones pleaded guilty on Jan. 21 to kidnapping while armed and was sentenced to 114 months in prison.
At the time of the kidnapping, Johnson was on probation in two Maryland cases involving theft, burglary and unlawful taking of a motor vehicle. He also faced a pending burglary and grand larceny case in Fairfax County, Virginia.
"Keishawn Johnson terrorized two children, hunting them and holding them hostage," U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro said. "… Anyone who preys on children will meet the same fate."
The FBI's Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force and its Violent Crimes Task Force investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Caroline Burrell prosecuted it as part of the Department of Justice's Project Safe Childhood initiative, a nationwide program launched in 2006 to combat online child exploitation and abuse.
