Tri-Cities educator and pastor linked to 7 more suspected AI child porn victims
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Police claim to find several more victims linked to a Tri‑Cities paraeducator and pastor.
- Benton County prosecutors file 7 more court protection orders for suspected victims.
- Johnson faces four counts and is jailed on $250,000 bail.
Investigators say they have discovered “several” more victims of a Tri-Cities paraeducator and pastor accused of using AI technology to make child pornography.
Police and prosecutors gave no specifics on how many more children are allegedly involved but Benton County prosecutors filed seven more protection orders on Wednesday.
The orders prevent Kevin Royal Johnson, 54, from contacting any of the suspected victims.
Johnson is already charged with four counts of possessing sexually explicit images and movies involving children. No new charges have been filed. He remains in the Benton County jail with bail set at $250,000.
All four counts are tied to the same out-of-state victim who is not connected to Johnson’s work as a paraeducator.
He is suspected of downloading pictures of the girl that were posted on Facebook and Instagram, then altering them with artificial intelligence software to create sexually explicit videos and photos of her.
Police have not shared any additional information about the suspected new victims, including what ties he had to them or if he used the same method to create child pornography.
Investigators said they discovered the other children while combing through the files as part of the investigation.
“RPD recognizes the significant concern cases of this nature create within the community, particularly when they involve individuals in positions of trust,” Richland police said in a Wednesday news release. “Detectives continue to work closely with prosecutorial partners and regional, state and federal agencies as the investigation remains active and ongoing.”
A state database on public school employees shows Johnson worked as an aid for the Kennewick district at Chinook Middle School during the 2023-24 school year.
Then, the Pasco School District said Johnson worked at McClintock STEM Elementary between August 2024 and June 2025.
Starting in August 2025, he worked as a paraeducator at Cottonwood Elementary school. The Kennewick School District said in a statement that no students at that school are involved in the allegations.
Johnson was a lead pastor with Impact Church of Pasco since July 2023, according to his LinkedIn profile. The church has released no statement about his arrest.
His LinkedIn profile shows he also taught at Vacaville Christian Schools in California starting in the 2022-23 school year before coming to the Tri-Cities
Public documents show he had previous ties to pastor associations and is married to a Pasco teacher.
AI-generated child porn
Court documents claim Johnson allegedly uploaded 21 files to his Google Drive on Feb. 13 that Google flagged as sexually explicit pictures and videos involving children. Johnson allegedly used his own email address and personal information to use the account.
The videos and photos allegedly showed a girl undressing or engaged in sexual acts. It appeared he used a real photo and was manipulated by artificial intelligence so it was sexual in nature, said investigators.
A detective recognized some of the pictures as being from Instagram, and with the help of a Homeland Security Investigations analyst they were able to find the girl pictured.
Detectives discovered the pictures had been taken from her parents’ Instagram and Facebook accounts. He often cropped out other children before using AI software on the images, said court documents.
Johnson’s connection to the girl’s family is unclear, but the girl had accepted him as a “friend” on Facebook.
Detectives with the Southeast Regional Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force are continuing the investigation. The task force involves officers from around the Tri-Cities and the Department of Homeland Security.