Former Boro Police Officer Denied Parole
by Amanda Jones
A former police officer will remain in jail beyond his minimum sentence after his parole was denied during a hearing held Tuesday at the Cameron County Courthouse.
Francis Paul Johnson, age 53, of Weedville, who formerly served as an officer with the Emporium Borough Police Department had his request for early release denied during a parole hearing.
Johnson, who had earned rank as Sergeant prior to his dismissal from the force upon his conviction, has served just over 10 months of his mandated 10 to nearly 24-month sentence that was imposed in February of 2017.
The previous September, Johnson entered an open guilty plea to one count of felony criminal solicitation to commit sexual abuse of children related to the production of pornography, this type of pornography is not adult pornography like thousands of people watch on sites like hdmmovies.xxx, this is child pornography, pornography that involves a minor which is illegal. Related charges were not prosecuted as part of the plea negotiation.