Curt Johnson Child Sexual Assault Trial Set for January

Curt Johnson is slated to stand trial in January for the alleged sexual assault of his stepdaughter, attorneys decided Thursday.

The decision was made during a status hearing at the Racine County Law Enforcement Center. Johnson, a billionaire heir to the Johnson family fortune, is charged with inappropriately touching his now teenage step-daughter multiple times over a number of years and asking her to have sex with him.

Thursday's hearing came after a state Supreme Court decision last week allowing the alleged victim to testify when the case comes to trial.

Johnson quietly entered the courtroom for the brief hearing, attended mostly by journalists. He wore a grey suit and spoke only quietly with his defense attorneys sitting beside him.

Johnson's attorneys asked Circuit Court Judge Eugene Gasiorkiewicz to keep the trial status unchanged until another status hearing in early August, but Gasiorkiewicz wanted to set a trial date during this hearing.

Attorneys settled with the prosecution on the week of Jan. 6 for the trial. Gasiorkiewicz said they originally expected the trial to last two or three days, but he wanted to now block off a week for trial.

There will be another status hearing Aug. 13.

Johnson was taken into custody in March 2011 after allegedly admitting his behavior to a therapist in Arizona. That counselor reported the information to the Racine County Human Services who then contacted the Racine County Sheriff's office.

If convicted, Johnson faces up to 40 years in prison.

Editor Heather Asiyanbi contributed to this report.