Case # 13WF3943
Date: September 22, 2015
MAN SENTENCED TO 34 YEARS TO LIFE IN PRISON FOR VIOLENTLY ATTACKING, TORTURING, AND SEXUALLY ASSAULTING WOMAN
SANTA ANA, Calif. – A man was sentenced today to 34 years to life in state prison for violently attacking, torturing, and sexually assaulting a woman who lived in his neighborhood. Thomas Clifford Johnson, 45, Huntington Beach, pleaded guilty today to one felony count of attempted murder and one felony count of sexual penetration by foreign object and force with sentencing enhancement allegations for inflicting aggravated mayhem or torture on the victim.
At the time of the crime, Johnson lived in a Huntington Beach apartment complex where then-64-year-old Jane Doe lived but did not know the defendant.
In the early morning hours on Dec. 22, 2013, Johnson entered Jane Doe’s home. The defendant physically beat the victim using a hammer and struck her multiple times across her body and forcibly raped the victim with a foreign object. At approximately 3:30 a.m., the defendant called 911 and reported the attack. The Huntington Beach Police Department, who investigated this case, arrived at the scene and arrested the defendant.
The victim was taken to a nearby hospital where she suffered a broken jaw in two places, bleeding in the brain, broken bones in her face and behind her ear, permanent hearing loss, lacerations on her face, facial fractures, and air trapped around her heart and neck. The victim also suffered a stroke two days after the attack and required multiple various surgeries.
At the sentencing today, Jane Doe and her sister delivered impact statements to the court pursuant to Marsy’s Law. Jane Doe told the court how she had just retired prior to the assault and was planning to start her own business as a consultant. She went on to describe her disabilities after the attack including memory loss where she is not able to remember what foods taste like, unable to read books, suffers significant hearing and vision loss, and has had to live a different life than what she would have chosen.
Jane Doe’s sister described to the court what a vivacious person Jane Doe used to be and how she enjoyed living independently but is now forced to have people assist her in all aspects of her life as she struggles with everyday tasks.
Deputy District Attorney Whitney Bokosky of the Sexual Assault Unit prosecuted this case.