Case Explained: FinalOpinion in case# 25-1021

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit Filed: 2026-06-26 The Seventh Circuit affirmed Brian Johnson’s seven sex trafficking convictions under 18 U.S.C. § 1591 but reversed the district court’s grant of his motion for acquittal regarding three child pornography convictions under 18 U.S.C. §§ 2252A(a)(1) and (a)(5)(B). Regarding the sex trafficking charges, the court applied a de novo standard of review to determine if any rational trier of fact could find the elements proven beyond a reasonable doubt. The court held that the statutory definition of a “commercial sex act” under § 1591(e)(3) is satisfied when a victim subjectively attaches value to a promise, even if the promisor knows the promise is false; because Johnson’s victims believed his fraudulent offers of compensation and work opportunities were valuable things given in exchange for sex, the evidence was sufficient to sustain the convictions. Regarding the child pornography charges, the court applied the same sufficiency standard, concluding that the government presented adequate evidence for a jury to infer Johnson knew the victim was underage after she explicitly informed him of her age via email and provided a driver’s license image, rendering the district court’s acquittal erroneous as it improperly reweighed the evidence. Consequently, the court vacated Johnson’s 420-month sentence and remanded the case to the district court to reinstate the child pornography convictions and conduct a full resentencing consistent with this decision. Do It For The Case Law is a news reporting service. Nothing in this episode constitutes legal advice.