The young woman who charged Kevin Johnson with sexual abuse many years ago has come forward to tell her story.
Johnson was a major basketball star at the time. He is now Mayor of Sacramento and is assumed to have ambitions to be Governor of California. He is married to Michelle Rhee, the controversial former Chancellor of the District of Columbia public schools.
The accuser was 15 at the time of the alleged incident. He was 29. She is now 36.
Koba [the accuser] says Johnson cut off contact, but eventually agreed to pay her $230,600—she received an initial payment of $59,000, nearly $92,000 went into a trust, while the rest went to legal fees, her mom, and medical costs to treat her mental health.
The agreement, she says, was signed by her and Johnson, and it’s in a safety deposit box in Arizona that can only be opened if she and his lawyer are there….
Koba says she spent the settlement on tuition and other things on one semester at University of San Francisco. She says she dropped out, saying she didn’t want to look back on her degree knowing Johnson’s money paid for it. She eventually got her degree from the University of Arizona.
Johnson’s office released a statement on Friday saying “These allegations are two decades old. They were thoroughly investigated and rejected by law enforcement and reported in the media. They weren’t true then, and they aren’t true now, period.”
The original story, with greater detail, was reported in Deadspin.
If it is untrue, Mayor Johnson should sue her for defamation. Or he could send his lawyer to open the safety deposit box to prove his innocence.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
More than a little ironic that Rhee, who made unfounded accusations of sexual abuse against teachers she tried to drum out of the DC school system, should be married to someone who’s been accused multiple times of sexually preying on young women and teenagers.
Ironic, but also fitting, since Rhee’s tenure in DC, along with so-called education reform in general, was an prolonged episode of mass child abuse.
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Nothing of what we have been reading here about the illegal and immoral shenanigans of Kevin Johnson, and his partner in business and marriage, Michelle Rhee, has been reported by the LA Times, in the detail which others have informed us.
Without a free press, democracy and the 99% are at an impasse.
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Also ironic that this peddler of horse dung now sits on the board of Miracle grow. Is it not karmic that the Rheeject found herself attracted to an alleged pedophile? You know her husband, Kevin the 1st, keeps their daughters far far from Kevin the 2nd.
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Good points Donna…I always wondered why the children were awarded to their father in Tennessee, rather than their mother in California. The light just came on. The courts knew far more than the public about these folks.
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A couple hours ago, Sacramento’s ABC affiliate put out a story about this:
http://www.abc10.com/story/news/local/sacramento/2015/09/28/kevin-johnson-comments-on-molestation-allegations/72985034/
The story quotes Johnson making an oddly-phrased denial:
“It’s very unfortunate. Something happened 20 years ago and it’s not true. You just got to move on, that’s just part of the territory.”
Kevin, don’t you mean… “What this woman claims happened 20 years ago never happened… ” ?
When the first words out of his mouth are, “It’s very unfortunate. Something happened…” the first instinct is to ask…
“Okay, so WHAT exactly happened? What’s ‘very unfortunate’?”
And then in the same sentence he then says, “… and it’s just not true.”
Huh???
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Whadda ya know?
Here’s a Facebook page calling for Johnson’s recall:
https://www.facebook.com/RecallKevinJohnson
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Here’s the police interview video — conducted during the 1996 investigation — with the alleged victim Mandi Koba herself. Here she recounts the horror of being molested by Michelle Rhee’s husband Kevin Johnson, the current mayor of Sacramento and a prominent proponent of busting teacher unions, and replacing public schools with privately-run charter schools.
Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson is the same man who has no court-mandated limits on his access to the two daughters of his current wife Michelle Rhee (who are also, of course, the daughters of her ex-husband and former Tennessee Education Commissioner Kevin Huffman.) Conceivably, these two daughters, when visiting their mother Michelle Rhee and their step-father Kevin Johnson in Sacramento, could be left alone with this perv, without any supervision whatsoever.
Scary stuff. (Mr. Huffman, if you’re reading this, what are you going to do about this?)
Watch the video and judge for yourself.
Keep in mind, folks, that this is a sixteen-year-old girl, recounting events of a few months prior when she was just fifteen. The video is even dated July 19, 1996 ( “7-19-1996” )
———————————————————————-
( 00:37 – 01:35 )
( 00:37 – 01:35 )
PHOENIX P.D. DETECTIVE: “What … what specific areas (of your body did Kevin Johnson fondle)?”
MANDI KOBA: “My stomach. My breasts. My butt… ”
PHOENIX P.D. DETECTIVE: (almost whispering) “Anywhere else?”
MANDI KOBA: “As it progressed.”
PHOENIX P.D. DETECTIVE: “Where ELSE did it progress?”
MANDI KOBA: “Between my legs.”
PHOENIX P.D. DETECTIVE: “Okay, and what do we call that area?”
MANDI KOBA: “My vagina.”
PHOENIX P.D. DETECTIVE: “And – and I know some of the questions sound stupid. Okay? And I apologize for it, but there are certain things I’m looking for. Unless I know these things, then…
MANDI KOBA: “I understand.”
PHOENIX P.D. DETECTIVE: ” … then I don’t know what’s going on.”
— (PAUSE)
“He (Kevin Johnson) had HIS clothes off?”
MANDI KOBA: “Yes.”
PHOENIX P.D. DETECTIVE: “What happened after the fondling?”
MANDI KOBA: “That’s … we didn’t have intercourse… It was… just a lot of THAT. I don’t know how long it lasted, and then… ummm ”
CLIP ENDS
———————————–
(ONE SIDE NOTE: what’s up with choosing a male detective to conduct this incredibly sensitive and delicated interview? Wouldn’t this be better handled by a female detective? Just askin’.)
There’s so much to be asked here.
If this video were about the predations of a prominent teacher—especially one in the anti-corporate reform movement, or perhaps a prominent teacher union leader…
—what do think Campbell Brown would be doing in response to this video?
What would Ben Austin would be doing in response to this video?
What would Michelle Rhee be doing in response to this video?
The same question goes for Eli Broad, Mike Petrilli, Wendy Kopp, Richard Barth and the rest.
Before she went on her campaign to take away all teachers’ rights and job protections, Campbell Brown first came to prominence with her accusations that among the unionized teachers of New York City were hundreds of pedophiles on the loose, thanks to their being protected by their union. When all of that was proven to be nonsense, she simply moved on to her current crusade.
Now that Ms. Brown and the rest of the corporate reform world have video proof that one of their pro-charter, union-hating allies Kevin Johnson (and also the husband of one of their most prominent allies) is a pedophile, the question must be asked:
What is Campbell Brown doing now? SILENCE
Where is Kevin Huffman doing now? SILENCE
From this shameful silence, they communicate to the world that they apparently view this girl in the video above — and Johnson’s other victims — as collateral damage in the movement to bust unions and privatize the public school system. Now that Kevin Johnson has successfully pulled off a hostile takeover of that Black Mayors’ association, he will be instrumental in privatizing hundreds of schools in those cities run by black mayors in the organization. Since the ends justify the means, someone like Johnson who is that key in the anti-union movement to privatize public schools must be given a pass for his fondness of teenage female flesh.
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He’s a sick man, very sick. Maybe he and Bill Cosby can share a cell together and swap stories.
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It is his wife and business partner, Michelle Rhee, with whom Kevin Johnson should share adjoining cells.
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Or Hastert, or Livingston, or … there’s even an entire Wiki on politician scandals. Time for another entry?
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Call Gloria Allred.
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Allred is a pit bull and a fellow Girls High alumna. FYI, she he taught for a time in Philadelphia at Ben Franklin HS, one of the toughest all male schools in the system at the time. Maybe her experience trained her to be a tough lawyer. She is representing seventeen of the Cosby women in a civil case, I imagine, since the statute of limitations is up.
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I did not know she was a teacher, which is cool.
From wiki, Allred has represented many clients in suits against celebrities, including those against Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee, Arnold Schwarzenegger,[12] Herman Cain[13] David Boreanaz,[14][15] Scott Lee Cohen,[16] Anthony Weiner,[17] Sacha Baron Cohen,[18] and Esai Morales.[19]
Looks like she is a force to be reckoned with.
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Campbell Brown, where are you?
😳
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“Selected as Founding Chair of the US Conference of Mayors’ Public Schools Task Force and Co-Chair of US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan’s Education Reform Task Force”
Boy, that’s… awkward for some very powerful people, huh?
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Where’s Campbell Brown when you need her? Quiet on this predator.
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It’s not funny, but I had to laugh this morning when I saw the post. Don’t they make the cutest couple? Rhee, the child abuser who tapes seven-year-olds mouths shut, and Johnson, the child molester with his 15-year-old mistress. They are perfect for one another! And perfect for education reform.
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Not to diminish in any way the seriousness of these accusations, but Mandy Koba was responding to this more revealing story, published in Deadspin last week. I would title it “How to Undermine Democracy, featuring Michelle Rhee’s Spouse”.
http://deadspin.com/whos-funding-kevin-johnsons-secret-government-1731005808
Long article; short answer: the Broads and the Waltons.
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I too was referring to this ‘deadspin’ article, Christine. Feel so lucky to have colleague’s here who read everything…keeps me informed.
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A must-read about the Kevin Johnson situation, written by the victim Mandi Koba back when she was not naming Johnson, but merely referred to “a celebrity, a professional athlete… ”
http://www.mandikoba.com/my-silence-has-been-bought-my-story-is-not-my-own/
———————————
“my silence has been bought.
my story is not my own.
“June 7, 2015
Mandi Koba:
“I am every victim of sexual assault by a celebrity, a professional athlete, a politician that has been silenced. I’ve been afraid to speak, come forward and tell my story. But no more. It’s time.
“I’ve been told that it’s my word against his, and who would people believe. I’ve been told that I was believed but the political and economic implications of filing charges didn’t make sense with the low likelihood of conviction without physical evidence.
“I’ve been intoxicated by the celebrity, the attention, the special-ness that draws people to the energy of the well known and celebrated. I benefited from my relationship with a high profile man, had my social status elevated, had my confidence sky-rocket. I’ve been conned by the squeaky clean reputation of a man held in high esteem by the public.
“I’ve lain in silence, accepting the unwanted touch of a grown man I trusted, believed in, thought believed in me. An adult mentoring me, grooming me, promising me the world if I would just trust, trust in him. I learned to leave my body, not feel the sensation of touch, not notice the passage of time, my brain protecting me from the trauma.
“I’ve walked through the door of the police headquarters, experienced the cleavage of time into before and after. I’ve disclosed my abuse, every intimate detail of how I was touched, where, how. I’ve answered questions about penetration… if he had an erection, all to a male detective I’d just met. I’ve been secretly tape recorded and had the tapes released to the media.
“I’ve been called ‘a sick slut’ in the media, a gold digger, an unreliable victim. I’ve had attorneys infer that the man who abused me had much more attractive women, options, so the idea that he’d sexually abuse me, a minor, was ludicrous. I’ve had my perpetrator – that’s what he is, a perpetrator, not someone who just made a mistake – held up as an example, a leader, a trusted advisor.
“I’ve been afraid, confused, drowned in self-doubt, questioned my self-worth because the currency of his celebrity trumped me, who I was, who I am as a person. I’ve sat with the disgust I felt about the abuse and my inability to see what was happening, the grooming, to prevent it – that I was so desperate for affirmation, for someone to notice me and shower me with attention and tell me that I was more than okay. It’s still hard to not twist my disgust at the situation into disgust for myself.
“The shame that comes with sexual abuse swallows you and the swim to the surface is long, dark and tumultuous with only occasional glimpses of the light of the sun. These are wounds that do not ever heal completely. There will be people, stories, situations, anniversaries that open that wound once again. Like the blood that rises to the surface when a scab is picked, so, too, do the memories, fresh once more.
“I’ve recovered from anorexia, my attempt at taking up as little space as possible in a world I couldn’t trust, an all too common repercussion of sexual trauma. I’ve stared at myself in the mirror, questioning my will to live, to continue to fight, with a pile of pills clutched in my hand. I’ve experienced flashbacks – the way he smelled – a particular song – a brand name – a toothy smile. I hold my breath, anxiety lowers over me like a black curtain and I am there, again, a loop of my abuse playing like a movie over and over in my mind. I’ve learned to take account of my senses, slow my thoughts and remember that I am now safe, I am surviving. Surviving and not a survivor, because it doesn’t stop, the trauma never leaves the body. There is no end point. But surviving can turn into thriving, in time.
“I’ve had to accept that I will never get the apology I want, deserve. The apology every victim, surviving, deserves. I earned his trust, kept promises, protected his privacy. Willingly, for too long.
“I’ve lived through the negotiations of a private settlement – been so worn down that I was convinced it was the only way I would achieve any form of justice, accountability. Committed legal blackmail – received restitution.
“My silence has been bought. My story is not my own.
“This should not be the only option available to victims of sexual abuse by high profile men and women. To any victim of sexual abuse.
“The system, our culture, is set up to protect these perpetrators, to protect their images and the teams, shows, political parties they’re associated with and represent. We live in a twisted time where a person’s signature is worth money. A person just like any other person, with the mark of a pen, a scrawl across an object, increases it’s value and perpetuates the false ideology that one individual has greater worth than another. We live in a world where a person’s worth is based on their gender, race, location, sexuality and station in life and not just because they are alive, living next to each of us, inhaling and exhaling.
“Please know it’s not easy to come forward. It’s not comfortable to make intimate details of one’s abuse available for public consumption. There is no amount of money that can soothe the wound of sexual trauma, make it okay, make it go away.
“Please know that our system is broken. The civil arena is often the only way victims can attempt to get justice and that should be shocking and shameful. But it’s not. It’s the victims that are further shamed and victimized – victimized because they have the nerve, the strength, to fight for themselves in the only way available to them. They are not trying to put a dollar amount on their abuse, their self-worth.
“Please know victims come forward with the hopes that they will be able to prevent further abuse. That their silence feels like giving the perpetrator permission to continue to abuse others.
“Please know that no one would subject oneself to the level of public scrutiny that comes with telling the truth, telling one’s story of sexual assault by a person protected by celebrity.
“Please listen and give us the benefit of the doubt and not default to blaming us, the victims.
“Please listen. Just listen.”
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Kevin Johnson’s attorney negotiated $230,000 for allegations that “weren’t true.” Which law school did he attend? What does he negotiate for clients who “are guilty”?
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