Vandergrift man charged with 16 felonies after 2 children tell cops he sexually assaulted them

A Vandergrift man faces 16 felony charges after two police departments in the Alle-Kiski Valley accused him of sexually assaulting young children.

Vandergrift police charged Timothy Robert Johnson, 37, of the 300 block of Lowell Street, with 11 felony sex charges after a girl reported he sexually assaulted her multiple times over a six-year period starting in the winter of 2015 when she was 8, according to a criminal complaint filed in support of the arrest.

Allegheny Township police charged Johnson with five felonies after a 13-year-old boy reported that Johnson sexually assaulted him when they spent the night on a boat at the River Forest Yacht Club on River Road in September, according to a separate criminal complaint filed in the case.

Johnson is being detained in the Westmoreland County jail in lieu of a $75,000 cash bond. He faces a preliminary hearing May 17 before District Judge Cheryl Peck Yacopec.

Vandergrift police said the girl told investigators during a forensic interview that Johnson showed her sexually explicit photographs and molested her numerous times at his home and at a home on Jefferson Street.

She told investigators that Johnson offered her money “to be quiet and not say anything,” according to the complaint.

The criminal complaint filed by Allegheny Township police said that on Sept. 12, Johnson took a 13-year-old boy and his 9-year-old brother on a boat docked at the yacht club. The boat never left its slip, police said.

The boy told investigators it was about 3 a.m. and he was nearly asleep in the boat’s cabin when Johnson began touching him inappropriately, according to the criminal complaint.

He said Johnson held him down before sexually assaulting him, the complaint said.

The boy said he tried to call his mother and the connection failed, but he was able to send a text saying “Help” along with a second one saying Johnson was touching him improperly, the complaint said.

The boy’s mother called police, who met the family while he was being examined at UPMC Children’s Hospital in Pittsburgh, according to the complaint.

Investigators obtained warrants to search the boat and Johnson’s home and to obtain a DNA swab from the man.

Police said DNA recovered from the clothing Johnson was wearing on the night of the incident matched DNA collected when the hospital assembled a rape kit during the boy’s examination, according to the arrest papers.