On April 21, 2009, Tulare County Superior Court Judge Joseph Kalashian imposed a sentence of 10 years in prison on 37-year-old Rolyat “Wally” Johnson for sex crimes committed on three boys in Visalia. The victims were unrelated to the defendant. Two of the boys reported the molestations to the police in 2001, when the boys were 8 and 9 years old. When the third victim, age 10, came forward in 2008, all three boys agreed to cooperate in the prosecution of the man they knew as “Wally”. All three molestations occurred in the defendant’s residence when the children’s mothers were not present.

The defendant pled no contest to three counts of lewd and lascivious acts with a child under 14 on March 23, 2009. As a result of the plea, the defendant is now convicted of three strike offenses and will be required to serve 85% of that sentence before being eligible for parole. His parole can last up to 5 years. The defendant was also ordered to pay a $3,000 restitution fine, to register as a sex offender under Penal Code section 290, to submit to AIDS testing under Penal Code section 1202.1, and to provide DNA samples under Penal Code section 296.

This case was prosecuted by Deputy District Attorney Bethany M. Gilliland and investigated by Lieutenant Jason Salazar and Detective Osvaldo Dominguez of the Visalia Police Department, as well as Investigator Gregg White of the District Attorney’s Office.

Contact Person: Assistant District Attorney, Don Gallian, (559) 733-6411.