AUBURN – A former Little League and youth basketball coach pleaded guilty Monday to a long list of charges involving sexual misconduct with young girls.

Michael Johnson, 39, admitted that he raped three teenage girls in the 1980s, then sexually abused two others in October 2002 and May 2003.

He also admitted to giving the young girls alcohol and drugs, paying one of them for sex and distributing pornographic material showing young children engaged in sexual acts.

Once a volunteer coach for the YMCA and the Auburn Suburban Little League, Johnson will likely be sent to prison for his conduct over the past 20 years.

His sentencing was postponed until January so that all of his victims could attend the hearing.

The maximum sentence for the charges could exceed 20 years, but his lawyer, Bill Cote, said Monday that the state has agreed to a sentence that includes less than five years in prison, followed by a lengthy period of probation.

Cote described Johnson’s acceptance of the state’s offer to plead guilty to 10 of the original 33 charges as a rational decision.

Youth group

Johnson’s history of abusing young girls surfaced in December 2003 when he was indicted for raping the three young girls in the 1980s.

Now in their late 20s and 30s, the women were 12 and 13 when they met Johnson through friends. At the time, Johnson knew many local youths through his involvement with a leadership group for young teens and the sports program at the YMCA.

The women claim Johnson befriended them, gave them alcohol and marijuana, then either had sex with them or attempted to have sex with them.

They attempted to report him in the 1990s, but they were incorrectly told by an Auburn detective that the statute of limitations had run out and it was too late to do anything.

The women decided to go back to police several years later after hearing rumors that Johnson was still chasing young girls.

This time, police pursued the case, and the investigation into Johnson eventually led to the discovery that he hadn’t changed his behavior.

Exotic dancers

In addition to finding pornographic files on Johnson’s computers with titles such as “Schoolgirl Pre-teen,” “13-year-old baby-sitter,” “Small Play Child Porn,” and “Amateur Web Cam Strip in Pajamas,” police found out that he was attracting young women by advertising for exotic dancers.

Two of the girls interested in dancing for him were 15 and 16. They both told police that Johnson gave them marijuana and alcohol, then had sex with them. The 15-year-old said he also gave her $100.

In total, Johnson pleaded guilty to eight felonies and two misdemeanors, including gross sexual misconduct, dissemination of sexually explicit material, aggravated furnishing of scheduled drugs, sexual abuse of a minor and patronizing prostitution of a minor.

Aside from entering his pleas, Johnson didn’t say much during his appearance Monday at Androscoggin County Superior Court.

According to his attorney, he has made many changes in his life over the past year and he plans to talk about them at his sentencing hearing in January.

His victims will also have an opportunity to address the court at that time. One of the women who he abused in the 1980s said Monday that Johnson’s decision to plead guilty has brought some closure for her and the others.

“At least we have broken the silence for those that don’t want to come forward,” she said.

Johnson will remain free on bail until his sentencing hearing.