AUBURN – Former youth baseball and basketball coach Michael Johnson is facing further legal woes after he was indicted Wednesday on new charges involving sexual misconduct with young girls.

The 38-year-old was charged by the Androscoggin County grand jury with sexual exploitation of a minor and seven counts of possessing and distributing sexually explicit photographs of children.

A prosecutor said the new allegations stem from searches of Johnson’s home following his arrest in March on charges of promoting prostitution and providing alcohol and drugs to minors.

Johnson, who lives at 650 Empire Road in Poland, was arrested March 8 for allegedly hunting for girls in Kennedy Park, giving them booze and marijuana, then convincing them to dance nude and have sex with him for money at his home.

While investigators were searching his home in March, investigators said they found new evidence of further criminal activity on Johnson’s computer. Specifically, the indictment charges he had photographs of young girls – some of them local – in sexually explicit poses.

The charge of sexual exploitation handed up Wednesday alleges that Johnson enticed a teenage girl to engage in a sex act in 1998 with the intention of photographing it.

In the indictment, Johnson is accused of possessing photographic files with titles such as “Schoolgirl Pre-teen,” “13-year-old babysitter,” “Small Play Child porn,” and “Amateur Web Cam Strip in Pajamas.”

Johnson was in possession of those photographs as far back as January 2003 and as recently as June of this year, according to court records.

In spite of the increasing number of charges against him, Johnson has remained free. In May, he pleaded not guilty to the charges of plying teens with liquor and pot. He has also pleaded not guilty to seven counts of rape filed last year.

Those charges are the result of allegations made by three women who claim Johnson sexually abused them in the 1980s.

At the time, the women were under 14 years old. One of them claims she met Johnson at the YMCA in Auburn, where he worked as a volunteer coach and was involved with a leadership group for young teens more than 10 years ago. The woman has said she introduced Johnson to the other girls.

The women, now in their late 20s and early 30s, have said they decided to finally come forward and pursue their allegations after hearing rumors that Johnson was still chasing young girls. Johnson pleaded not guilty to those charges in December.

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