Who Is Dan Johnson's Wife, Rebecca? Kentucky Representative Dies Of Apparent Suicide
Kentucky state representative Dan Johnson, who was under investigation for alleged sexual molestation, died of an apparent suicide Wednesday. Fox Affiliate WDRB-TV cited Bullitt County Sheriff Donnie Tinnell saying Johnson shot himself on a bridge in Mount Washington, Kentucky.
The apparent suicide comes amid sexual assault allegations against Johnson after the Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting published an account Monday, of a woman saying the representative sexually assaulted her on New Year's Eve in 2012.
The woman, who was 17 at the time, alleged Johnson kissed her and fondled her underneath her clothes while he was a pastor and she was living in Heart of Fire City Church accommodations.
The allegations were investigated by Louisville police, who filed no charges, and the case was closed. Meanwhile, Johnson said Tuesday the accusations were false. He said in a Facebook post Monday night post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) was “a sickness that will take my life, I cannot handle it any longer.”
He further wrote about his wife, Rebecca: I LOVE GOD and I LOVE MY WIFE, who is the best WIFE in the world, My Love Forever.”
The post seemed to have been taken down from the page since.
Rebecca also backed up his denial saying the woman was sleeping in the same bed as the couple's daughter and called the accusations “crazy.”
“The article is unbelievably crazy and I really hate that people that wanna do good and serve in office get treated like this. Nobody is good enough, it’s horrible, and I hate it for our friends and family that have to go through this and our constituents, because they are good people and they want a representative to represent their values. I get so mad about this. We are in a certain party, we have a certain belief system and it’s totally opposite of the media and the opposing side and yes they don’t like us. Surprise, they don’t like us. So we disagree on a whole lot.
“We’re fighters. They may not be fighters. We are fighters. We live; we are alive. We deal with real issues so we don’t know any other way to live but to fight. … She had a lot of issues in her life and we tried to be friendly with her, be a family close to her. I counselled her a lot, just like a daughter. I don't know, I guess that didn't go over real good,” Rebecca said about the alleged victim,” NBC affiliate WAVE reported.
Johnson, a self-anointed "pope" of his congregation, was a bishop in the Evangelical Heart of Fire Church. Rebecca too was a pastor at the same church and according to its website, worked “with her husband in every facet of the Church & Evangelistic Ministry.”
It was also stated Rebecca returned to Kentucky with her husband to build the headquarters of Heart of Fire in 1995, after living and working out of the West Coast for six years. The couple was reportedly married for over twenty five years and had four children — Boaz, Danielle, Judah, and Sarah.
Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin tweeted after news about Johnson’s death broke out and said he was saddened to hear about the death.
Senator Rand Paul, junior senator representing Kentucky, also tweeted saying he and his wife would pray for Johnson’s loved ones.
© Copyright IBTimes 2024. All rights reserved.