Former fire chief gets jail, probation

PORT CLINTON — A courtroom in Port Clinton was filled on Friday morning with family, friends and supporters of both former Port Clinton fire chief Kent Johnson and a former fire department employee accusing him of sexual misconduct ahead of his sentencing. Those in attendance listened as retired Lucas County Common Pleas Court Judge Robert Christiansen sentenced Johnson, 66, of the 400 block of Adams St., to serve: • About six months in the Ottawa County Jail • Three years of probation • Additional incarceration and probation time could be imposed if Johnson violates his probation. Johnson had previously pleaded no contest to five misdemeanors and one felony on March 31 in exchange for four charges to be dismissed, including gross sexual imposition, a fourth-degree felony. Specifically, he pleaded to: • Unauthorized use of computer, cable or telecommunications property, a fifth-degree felony • Menacing, a fourth-degree misdemeanor, which was amended from a count of menacing by stalking • Telecommunications harassment, a first-degree misdemeanor • Receiving stolen property, a first-degree misdemeanor • Assault, a first-degree misdemeanor, which was amended from a count of gross sexual imposition • Attempted intimidation of an attorney, victim, or witness in a criminal case, a second-degree misdemeanor, which was amended from a count of intimidation of an attorney, victim, or witness in a criminal case The charges all relate to allegations that Johnson sexually assaulted and harassed Rebekah Huskey-Archacki, a former Port Clinton firefighter/EMT. The Register does not ordinarily identify crime victims, but Huskey-Archacki and her attorney have previously publicly identified her as the victim in this case. 'Lost all confidence in the justice system' Before Johnson's sentencing was announced, Huskey-Archacki delivered a lengthy victim impact statement to the court, highlighting the lasting effects of Johnson's actions on her. She recounted — at times, impassioned and, at others, choking up — in excruciating detail about what she described as years of emotional and sexual abuse by Johnson. "I need you to understand that Johnson, who is more than 30 years older than me, sexually harassed and assaulted me on multiple occasions," Huskey-Archacki said. "He would harass me in front of my co-workers." Huskey-Archacki, who said she knew Johnson since she was a child before starting to work as a firefighter at the Port Clinton Fire Department, said that on multiple occasions, Johnson made lewd remarks to her, both at work and at her home, exposed his genitals to her and sexually assaulted her. "I was shaking and crying," she said, recounting one incident. Recounting another, where she said Johnson forced his hands up her leg and touched her groin area: "I know, what the (expletive)?" Huskey-Archacki also described assaults happening at her residence as she was bedridden following back surgery from a work-related injury. She claimed Johnson, in addition to kissing her neck and shoulder, rubbed the incision from her surgery, causing her pain. She also reiterated an incident — which prosecutors said was confirmed by an Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigations probe — where Johnson took Huskey-Archacki's phone and made duplicates of nude images of herself found on her phone. Prosecutors said the photos were found on Johnson's Google Drive account. Johnson allegedly used his own phone to take photos of the screen of Huskey-Archacki's phone. Johnson, by way of his attorney, Mark P. Smith, claimed he had duplicated the photos as a part of an investigation into Huskey-Archacki allegedly sending nude photos to another firefighter. Huskey-Archacki said the photos were intended for her then-fiance, who also worked at the fire department. Johnson and his attorney claimed they were investigating if she sent the photos to a different firefighter. As a result of the abuse and what she described as being ostracized in the community as a result of coming forward with her allegations, Huskey-Archacki said that she has "trust issues" and often asks family to stay with her when she's home alone. "I feel like I can't escape," she said. Prior to the judge reading the sentence, Huskey-Archacki made a final plea to the judge. "I have lost all confidence in the justice system," Huskey-Archacki said to Christiansen. "I'm waiting to see, Your Honor, if you could restore my faith. "Kent Johnson deserves to be incarcerated for as long as you will allow," she added. Attorneys give input Attorneys for the prosecution and defense also gave their two cents prior to the sentence. Henry County prosecutor Gwen Howe-Gebers, who served as the special prosecutor in the case, said that Johnson, in his position as fire chief, "held a position of public trust." "He used that position to take advantage of (Huskey-Archacki)," Howe-Gebers said. Smith asked the judge not to order Johnson to be incarcerated due to multiple health issues he suffers from, including congestive heart failure, diabetes, PTSD and depression, among others. He also brought up Johnson's long service to Port Clinton in his call for leniency in sentencing. "My client is not in good health," Smith said. Johnson wore glasses, sported a beard and walked with a cane in and out of the courtroom. Johnson did not deliver any statement — which his attorney said was due to a pending lawsuit against him filed by Huskey-Archacki — and responded with a simple "yes" when asked questions by the judge. Smith also said Johnson took the no contest pleas partly to avoid submitting Huskey-Archacki to further court proceedings. "He's stepping up and owning up," Smith said. The sentence Christiansen admitted that he "took a long walk in the park" when considering what to sentence Johnson to. "Having been a judge for 43 years, these are terrible cases and never get better," the judge said. In addition to the incarceration and probation sentences, Johnson was also ordered to pay $4,000 in restitution to the city of Port Clinton. He was also ordered to have no contact with Huskey-Archacki or her family. Outside the courtroom, Smith said he was still discussing with Johnson a potential appeal, which they have 30 days from sentencing to file. Pending civil lawsuit Huskey-Archacki's allegations from her victim impact statement also represent the basis of a lawsuit she filed in September 2023 against Johnson and the city of Port Clinton in federal court. She is seeking compensatory and punitive damages against both the former fire chief and the city. She was joined in the courtroom by her attorney in the civil suit, Subodh Chandra. When asked about the sentence, Chandra said: "I think one can never be satisfied when a tragedy like this occurs. The period of incarceration, in our view, should have been even longer, but that there was a period of incarceration comes as a bit of a relief. "Ms. Huskey-Archacki today received a small sip from the cup of justice," he added. The city of Port Clinton is currently working to produce data from Johnson's work computer to be submitted as evidence in the case. That was expected to be completed by the end of July, and then attorneys agreed to take until the end of August to review the data.