From Art Campos:
A former Placer County sheriff's deputy was sentenced Wednesday to two years in a county jail and placed on five years probation for having sexual relations with two underage girls during his years as a law enforcement officer.
Michael Stuart Johnson was given the term by retired Placer Superior Court Judge J. Richard Couzens, who expressed concern over the ex-deputy's safety if he were to be housed in a state prison.
Johnson, 26, who worked two years for the Sheriff's Department, was arrested Oct. 5 after detectives looked into reports that he was having a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old girl in Colfax, where he was a patrol officer.
Further investigation revealed allegations of a prior sexual relationship with a 17-year-old girl from 2003 to 2004 when Johnson was a police officer in Auburn. The probe also uncovered the alleged distribution of lewd material to a 15-year-old girl in 2007 and the illegal use of a law enforcement computer system.
Johnson resigned as a deputy in December and pleaded guilty in May to five criminal charges.
Under terms of his sentencing, Johnson must serve two full years in jail without possibility of alternative sentencing or of earning a shorter jail stay based on good-conduct credits. He faced a state prison term of four years and eight months.
"Two years in custody is not a slap on the wrist," said prosecutor Garen Horst. "If he'd gone to prison, he'd be eligible for half-time credits, meaning he would have served two years and four months. So I agree that this was a pretty harsh punishment."
Lt. Jeffrey Ausnow said Johnson will not be housed in the county jail in Auburn. He will serve the two-year sentence at a jail facility in an undisclosed county, he said.
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