‘I am not going to resign’ – Defiant Kentucky state Rep Dan Johnson addresses the public from his church in Louisville on Tuesday

A preacherman turned politician in Kentucky accused of sexually assaulting a teen member of his congregation four years ago, has called the claim “totally false”. State Rep Danny Johnson said the claim was part of a scheme to attack Republicans running for office.
Dan Johnson, who is also a church pastor, cited Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore on Tuesday as he denied allegations made by the alleged victim, Maranda Richmond, in a report by the Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting at the beginning of the week.
Moore, who faces accusations from multiple women of sexual misconduct, was squaring off with Democrat Doug Jones in a special election for the U.S. Senate seat on Tuesday.
“I don’t think in every case women lie,” Johnson said Tuesday during a press conference at his Louisville church: “Not at all. I think it is the season. Last election it seemed to be racism. This one seems to be sexual impropriety,” Johnson said Tuesday..
“If the police or anyone involved had thought that this was a real case, don’t you think they would have pursued that?
“There is no way they would have let up if they thought there was something to it.”

State Rep. Dan Johnson spoke to the media Tuesday morning from his Heart of Fire Church about allegations of sexual assault against a member of his congregation that happened four years ago, when the victim was 17

Maranda Richmond said that Johnson sexually assaulted her on New Year’s Day in 2013 when she was a member of his Heart of Fire Church. She said she was 17 at the time, according to the Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting.
Police documents from an interview with Richmond four years ago confirm what she told the Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting, but Johnson said that her claim has no merit and that he would not resign.
The Courier-Journal reports a defiant Johnson telling his congregation and the gathered media “The fact of the matter is that we live in a country where people have elections, and people vote people in,” he said.
“The people who run for office are just people, and there are no perfect people. … I think there are people who have taken that and used it as political rocks to be thrown.”
Police documents obtained by the Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting show a detective closed the case because Richmond would not cooperate, but Richmond denies this. Richmond says she never once wanted to stop the investigation.
In the wake of the unsavory allegation, Republican and Democratic leaders of the state House of Representatives have called for Johnson to step down.

State Rep Danny Johnson [seen at the pulpit of his church, Tuesday], refuses to resign despite allegations of sexual assault, colleagues and house party leaders calling on him to step down

“Following today’s extensively sourced and documented story from the Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting, we once again find ourselves in a position where we must call for him to resign, this time, from the Kentucky General Assembly,” Republican state chairman Mac Brown said Monday in a statement.
Johnson held his news conference Tuesday from the pulpit of his church. He began by leading his supporters in singing “O Come All Ye Faithful.”
Richmond said she spent the night at Johnson’s home on New Year’s Eve in 2012, and said she awoke a few hours after midnight to find Johnson standing over her. She said he put his hand down her pants. She said he eventually left and she slipped away before he woke up.

Johnson’s son Judah [left], and his wife Rebecca were on hand to support the beleaguered preacher. Rebecca Johnson called the accusations “crazy.”

‘Johnson said he remembered that night and that “there was nothing that really happened.”‘
The lawmaker’s wife Rebecca Johnson said Richmond was sleeping in the same bed as the couple’s daughter, and called the accusations “crazy.”
“She had a lot of issues in her life and we tried to be friendly with her, be a family close to her,” Rebecca Johnson said. “I counseled her a lot, just like a daughter. I don’t know, I guess that didn’t go over real good.”
“For this to be laid against me as an accusation is horrible,” Dan Johnson said. “I’m mad as can be. No one wants to be accused falsely.”