An Arvada woman, already in trouble for having sex with teenage boys, was the only adult in a Jeep driven by a 14-year-old that crashed Sunday, seriously injuring three children and herself.
Silvia Johnson, 41, was scheduled to be sentenced Monday for giving alcohol to teenage boys and having sex with them. She had told police she did it to be a “cool mom.”
“I can’t believe it. I’m very disappointed right now,” said the mother of a teenage boy who attended parties at Johnson’s home when the alcohol and sex incidents took place.
The mother, whose identity is being withheld by The Denver Post to protect her son, said she was looking forward to the sentencing because it would help her son move on.
Her son is 18, but was 17 at the time of Johnson’s parties. He has struggled with school, with drug and alcohol issues, and now with keeping a job.
“He is paying the price, and I’m paying the price,” his mother said.
On Sunday, Johnson was in a 2005 Jeep Liberty heading north on Interstate 25 at 5:30 p.m. near Castle Rock when a 14-year-old girl driving the SUV ran it off the road and down an embankment, rolling it, according to the Colorado State Patrol.
Also in the Jeep were an 11-year-old boy, a 12-year-old boy and another 14-year-old girl.
One person was ejected. Only the driver was wearing a seat belt, said Trooper Eric Wynn, a State Patrol spokesman.
Four of the five people in the Jeep were taken to hospitals with serious injuries, according to the State Patrol.
Johnson was in the intensive-care unit at Swedish Medical Center on Monday, her attorney, Phil Cherner, said in court.
The two teenagers and two children in the Jeep were not identified by the State Patrol, and their conditions weren’t available.
The accident remained under investigation.
In July, Johnson pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor counts of sexually assaulting two teenage boys and nine felony counts of contributing to the delinquency of minors.She was to have been sentenced Monday in Jefferson County District Court in Golden.
Prosecutors asked that her bond be revoked because Johnson was the only adult in the vehicle with an unlicensed driver. A 14-year-old can’t legally drive in Colorado.
“It’s a violation of her bond to reoffend and commit a new crime,” said Pam Russell, a spokeswoman for Jefferson County District Attorney Scott Storey. “The allegation is that she allowed a 14-year-old to drive the car.”
Jefferson County District Judge Peter Weir issued a failure-to-appear warrant but stayed the order until Oct. 6, Johnson’s next court date.
Johnson faces up to 58 years behind bars for crimes committed at her former Arvada home between fall 2003 and Labor Day 2004, according to court documents.
The victims were Arvada West High School students between the ages of 14 and 17. Johnson supplied liquor to boys and girls and had sex with two boys.
An Arvada detective testified that Johnson told him she was bipolar and used methamphetamine to “self-medicate.”
According to documents, she told police that she was never popular in high school but that the parties had her “feeling like one of the group.”
Staff writer Kieran Nicholson can be reached at 303-820-1822 or knicholson@denverpost.com.
