Shelly Johns, mother of abducted girl, gets deferred judgments in child abuse case

IOWA CITY - The mother of the girl abducted by her stepfather in March will not do any prison time for child endangerment.

According to court records, Shelly Johns, 44, received deferred judgments for charges of child endangerment causing bodily injury and child endangerment on Monday. Johns will be on probation for three years on the child endangerment causing bodily injury charge and two years for the child endangerment charge.

Johns was accused of keeping and using illegal drugs in the Coralville home she shares with her young daughter. Johns previously told police she had been smoking meth and that her daughter was present when the drugs were being used. The girl also told authorities that she saw her mother and others using a white substance, believed to be meth, in her presence.

Additionally, police said the girl had a 'circular injury” under her eye that she suffered when Johns burned her with a cigarette. Johns admitted to burning her daughter with the lit cigarette during an incident when she was disciplining her, police said. Johns admitted to disciplining her daughter by 'smacking her, pulling her hair and kicking her,” according to criminal complaints.

Johns was initially ordered not to have any contact with her daughter. However, the no contact order was later lifted.

The girl was abducted by her stepfather, 48-year-old Kenneth Johns, on March 7. On that date, deputies responded to Casey's General Store in Solon after Shelly Johns called to report a domestic abuse incident involving him. At that time, Kenneth Johns was wanted for a prior domestic incident.

Authorities said Kenneth Johns abducted his stepdaughter from a residence in Solon, and fled in a vehicle, while his wife was with authorities. Later that day, Shelly Johns reported that her husband might be in possession of a weapon and authorities issued an Amber Alert. The girl was eventually turned over to authorities by a third party in West Branch early on March 8, and Johns was arrested in Davenport after a standoff with police later that morning.

Kenneth Johns was eventually charged with second-degree kidnapping, possession of a firearm by a felon and carrying weapons in the Amber Alert case. Johns has pleaded not guilty to those charges and is scheduled to go to trial July 21. According to court records, Johns will argue he was justified in taking the girl.