'Pedophile' Is Finally Caught After Escaping Prison 30 Years Ago — and He'd Been Using a Dead Child's Name
Authorities arrested 70-year-old Steven Craig Johnson, who has been living under the name “William Cox”
Oregon Department of Corrections; Bibb County Sheriffs Office
A convicted pedophile who escaped prison three decades ago has been caught, and authorities allege he has been living under the name of a child who died in 1962.
Law enforcement officials arrested 70-year-old Steven Craig Johnson — who has allegedly been living under the name “William Cox” — on Tuesday, July 16, from a residence in Macon, Ga., the U.S. Marshals Service said in a statement on Wednesday.
Johnson escaped from the Mill Creek Correctional Facility in Salem, Ore., on Nov. 29, 1994, according to a 2019 bulletin from Oregon authorities.
He was serving his sentence for sexual abuse and attempted sodomy at the time, the USMS said. An arrest warrant was issued for his escape after he fled the facility while on a prison work detail.
Since then, Johnson, who Oregon authorities said targeted pre-teen boys, had allegedly been living under the stolen identity of a Texas child who died in January 1962, the USMS alleges.
Johnson allegedly obtained a copy of the deceased child’s birth certificate and used that to eventually get a social security number in Texas in 1995 — a year after his escape, the USMS says. In 1998, Johnson allegedly got a driver’s license in Georgia.
Police did not state how he came upon Cox’s information.
The 2019 bulletin from Oregon authorities described Johnson as a "pedophile" who “presents a high probability of victimizing pre-teen boys.”
“Fugitive Johnson should not be allowed contact with children,” read a part of the bulletin which also said he was suspected to be heading towards Texas at the time.
The USMS says Johnson has been living in his Macon apartment since 2011.
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Neighbors who live in the apartment complex were shocked upon learning about his true identity, Oregon Live reported.
“He was a very nice man. Everyone liked him,” neighbor April Walker said, according to the outlet.
She noted that Johnson regularly exercised and went on morning walks.
“Everyone called him, ‘Bud,’” neighbor Eddie Rozier told the outlet.
Johnson was booked into a local Georgia jail and is awaiting extradition to Oregon, per Oregon Live, KOIN and KGW 8. It wasn’t immediately clear if he will face any additional charges.
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