Life sentence for online pedophile

DACULA, Ga., June 21 (UPI) -- A former Dacula, Ga., church mentor was sentenced to life in prison for impersonating a teen girl to lure young boys into having sex with him.

Atoine Johnson, 29, confessed to creating the MySpace persona of 14-year-old Kristen from Texas. He stole the photos from other MySpace accounts and used the false identity to gain the trust of teenaged boys, typically outcasts or loners. When the time was right, Johnson would convince them to rendezvous with him for sex, saying that if they did, they would later get to have sex with Kirsten, the Gwinnet (Ga.) Daily Post reported.

Gwinnet Superior Court Judge Timothy Hamil called the ploy "absolutely diabolical," before slamming Johnson with a litany of charges Wednesday.

Johnson was found guilty of three counts of aggravated child molestation, 11 counts of sexual exploitation of a child, in connection with a cache of child pornography found on his computer; one count of enticing a child for indecent purposes and two counts of attempting to entice children, the Post reported.

During three days of testimony, Johnson spoke of Kirsten as a favor he did for the boys involved, boosting their self-esteem, the newspaper said.

"It was the profile that helped me to get to know them better," he said. "I would use that as a way to shape them to be better people."

When Hamil handed down the life sentence, with an additional 60 years of probation to keep him offline, family members begged for mercy.

Through tears, Johnson leaned over the defense table and pleaded with Hamil. "I'm not a monster," he said.