DeKalb County

Police charge teacher with attempted child molestation after mall incident

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — Police have charged a Tucker Middle School teacher with attempted child molestation after police said he tried to sexually assault a teen at Perimeter Mall August 4.

Channel 2's Aaron Diamant learned that Devin LeCorry Johnson, 28, was charged Tuesday after he turned himself in. The school district has since fired him, officials said.

Channel 2's Mike Petchenik first reported the incident last Friday as police were still trying to identify the man. Police say the alleged assault happened inside a bathroom.

Sgt. Robert Parsons, with the Dunwoody Police Department, said the 13-year-old was washing his hands last week Johnson struck up a conversation.

"Was asking him hold old he was, where he lived, if he was from the area, that kind of thing," Parsons said.

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Police say Johnson then lured the teen into a bathroom stall and then tried to get him to pull down his pants.

When the boy fought back, police say, the man grabbed his pants, but the boy got away and his father chased the man out of the mall.

"His father began searching for the suspect trying to find him. The father saw the suspect running through the mall," Parsons said.

Surveillance video of Johnson released by police generated about a dozen tips. Police told Diamant that when Johnson saw the video, he contacted the school district, which then called Dunwoody police.

Johnson is now charged with child molestation, enticing a child and obstruction of officers.

Diamant talked to a parent at Tucker Middle School whose son is in Johnson's class.

"My son said, 'That's Mr. Johnson, mommy.' And I was, like, 'Are you sure?'" Tywanna Bailey-Britt said. "'Is that your teacher?' And he's, like, 'Yeah, that's the teacher who comes to my social studies class.'"

The school district has not commented on Johnson's arrest.