Maurice And Toni Johnson Accused Of Sexually Torturing Mentally Disabled Woman

A northeast Alabama couple has been arrested for allegedly torturing and sexually abusing a mentally disabled woman who was recently found naked and handcuffed to a bed.

Maurice Rex Johnson, 52, and Toni Renea Johnson, 40, have been charged with sodomy, sexual torture and unlawful imprisonment. The couple is accused of abusing a 23-year-old woman with profound mental disabilities inside their Attalla home for months, according to police.

The alleged abuse and sexual cruelty came to light on Aug. 27.

"[The victim's] boyfriend, who is somewhat mentally challenged himself, found her," Gadsden Police Capt. Regina May told The Huffington Post. "She was laying on the floor nude. They had shaved her head and handcuffed her to a bedframe and left her."

The young woman's boyfriend was unable to free her, so he ran for help. Neighbors who responded contacted police, and members of the Gadsden Fire Department were called in to cut the woman free of the handcuffs.

Investigators have not yet said how the Johnsons may have come to know the victim.

"When she was rescued, she made a statement to the officers that she had been cuffed to the bed like that because she had been bad," May said. "She had suffered episodes of abuse, episodes of sodomy and sexual torture."

The Johnsons also allegedly put hot sauce on the victim's genitals and prevented her from using a shower to alleviate the pain, police said.

Authorities are still trying to determine how long the victim was with the couple. At this point, investigators suspect she was there at least a couple of months.

"She wasn't being held captive all the time," May said. "She functions on about the level of a 10-year-old. She has no family, no guardian. She was just kind of taken in by these people."

Investigators contacted the Alabama Department of Human Resources and discovered the victim had been in the DHR system for the majority of her life. She was released from the department's care when she turned 21.

After rescuing the victim from the Johnson residence, police located the couple nearby and questioned them about the victim. Maurice Johnson was then arrested for possession of marijuana, and his wife was held on an outstanding warrant for resisting arrest and obstructing governmental operations in an unrelated case.

While investigators worked to obtain arrest warrants against the couple for allegedly abusing and torturing the mentally challenged woman, Maurice Johnson posted bail for the drug charge and fled the area. Toni Johnson was charged on Sept. 2, and a warrant was issued for Maurice's arrest.

On Wednesday, he was captured in Miller County, Ga.

"He was located at the home of his father," May said. "He [waived extradition], and he's back in our county jail now."

The victim in the case has since been placed with temporary caregivers.

"It's a horrible case," May said. "Hopefully she'll get back in the DHR system, and they'll appoint a permanent guardian to look out for her best interests."

Comments

[Julie Mertz]

07:35 PM on 09/15/2011

Imagine how a God of love feels seeing all this evil. It's hard to believe it goes on yet I've read some painful things.

[mendlson]

03:23 PM on 09/15/2011

Sometimes you read something that almost makes you feel embarrassed to be a component of the human race. I hope someone will step forward to care for this girl.

[Justice Man]

10:50 PM on 09/12/2011

Here is the most interesting part:

"Investigators have not yet said how the Johnsons may have come to know the victim"

What is hiding behind this and why are the authorities not telling us that?

Were the cortacted to help the disabled by DHR?

Is it all DHR (DFCS) fault for hiring drug addict to assist the disabled?


***

The Legal System is a Business!

They don't care about Justice!

The more they can get you to appear in court, the more they profit!

They are all Psychopaths: They convict and destroy people for their careers and money!

This applies to Judges, Lawyers, DA, US-Attorney, DOJ.... and anyone else who is a part of the legal system.

[MadDogMean]

08:34 PM on 09/12/2011

How is this a political story? Why are people using this as a platform for political talking points? This is a very sad story about a clearly very vulnerable woman and two sadistic freaks torturing her. Stop using it to bash Tea Party members and Republicans. What a bunch of foolish suckers.

[noudidnt]

04:58 PM on 09/12/2011

The wh i t e comm unity has a serious problem with se xu al de vi ants.

[lisaman]

11:35 AM on 09/12/2011

My first thought was, 2 less republican voters. But then I read about what they did to this woman and I think that both of them deserve life and I hope they live the rest of it being tortured by other prisoners. Does that make me evil too?

[pooigoddess]

05:30 PM on 09/12/2011

I'm pretty sure it just makes you human.

[MadDogMean]

08:31 PM on 09/12/2011

What in the world are you talking about? Republican voters, get real. What an inane thing to say, when this is a story about a mentally challenged woman who was tortured by two obviously demented people. Way to bring politics into an a-political story and by the way you aren't evil, just moronic.

[lisaman]

08:49 AM on 09/13/2011

Sorry, I know it hurts to know these people are on the same side as you but face it, then maybe you can move on without the need to place judgement upon others.

[adelynmetze]

12:11 AM on 09/12/2011

Horrible. Heart breaking. But more money should be allocated to the funding of helping these people. Stop blaming the poor and being worried you may be "cheated" somehow. Fund more help for the vulnerable and fund some investigators to find the cheaters.

Perhaps taxing the agregiously wealthy a fare amount? But it seems the conservatives are unable to see the wisdom in that.

Our country doesn't seem to be equipped to help these vulnerable people. The mentally ill and handicapped are at a HUGE disadvantage.

If I hadn't had my husband to help me through a terrible bout of mental illness, my daughter would be in foster care and I would be either in a state run institution or on the streets, or dead.

This torture is such a sickening crime, and yet there is such a bigger picture here. And I fear those who need to be convinced are too closed minded to be big enough people to change their minds based on new info.

Heartbreaking. I pray that this woman will get the help she needs to recover from the trauma, that will undoubtedly play a role in her life forever.

[sggoods]

09:39 PM on 09/11/2011

Duelling banjos

[mmrdaisley]

05:59 PM on 09/11/2011

let me make sure i understand this.She has the mental capacity of a 10yr old no family or guardian and knowing all of this dhr still released her.Released her to where or who did they just open the door and tell her leave ? With her mental state she does not seem capable of getting a job an apartment or sustaining herself on a day to day basis so under what conditions was she released

[MissMel10]

10:07 AM on 09/12/2011

My questions/concerns exactly! It's bad enough that this happens to the average Foster child at the age of 18--"released" with no where to go and no income in most cases. But for it to happen to someone with obvious mental disabilities is downright cruel and should be criminal. Sheesh.

[ashamed of m bachmann]

02:53 PM on 09/11/2011

Wow, how devoid of human emotion does one have to be to do something like this? I certainly hope these two get what is coming to them in prison and I don't mean just incarceration. I hope Maurice gets a cell with big bubba and toni? Well girls get the broom sticks ready! This is the time when "an eye for an eye" seems appropriate.

[Tree S-B]

12:47 PM on 09/11/2011

What this couple did is horrible but there is a lot unstated in this story; the system failed this poor woman and she was left unprotected. I hope someone helps her.

[pcplz]

12:33 PM on 09/11/2011

There are monsters amongst us. Praise goes to the 'challenged' young man who searched for her and saved her. He is a hero.

[ickymcpooh]

11:19 AM on 09/11/2011

So this poor girl was a "state raised child" until she hit the cut off age of 21.She had the brain of a 10 year old and a judge thought it was okay to put her out on the streets alone!!
They may as well hand delivered her to them people.She was a victim waiting to happen preditors love helpless people.

[realwoman8]

12:01 PM on 09/11/2011

Now the tea party wants support cut off to everyone -- no medicaid, no medicare, no social security. Tell the mentally ill and mentally disabled who were dumped on the streets years ago to keep a cardboard box handy for you and me, because that's where we're headed. My mother, in her mid-80s, is old enough to remember poor houses and what horrible places they were. There's a reason these social programs were put into place. I don't understand why we're not just not helping people like this woman, but also seem to be entertaining the notion of cutting all support to the elderly and disabled. What kind of country are we becoming? I guess the kind of country where those without voices are shoved into the shadows and forgotten.

[ucicne1]

08:03 PM on 09/11/2011

You don't know what you are talking about. I'm a "tea party" and no one I know in the "tea party" wants to cut off support to everyone. I do believe in planning for your own future, and taking care of yourself. I also believe in charity and helping others who are down on their luck. So I'll repeat, REALWOMAN, that you don't know what you are talking about.

[noudidnt]

08:53 AM on 09/11/2011

savages

[glomtt]

05:07 AM on 09/11/2011

HA they look like twins! Which one is the male?