4-10-2003 Louisiana:BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) -- Gov. Mike Foster granted early release to a man imprisoned for shooting his 13-year-old daughter's molester, saying the father should not serve more time than the girl's attacker.
Foster gave Allie "Bo" Johnson double credit for good behavior, allowing him to go free after serving nearly three years of a seven- year sentence for attempted manslaughter.
"This does not mean I condone his actions," Foster said in a statement. "I do not support taking the law into your own hands."
The case has drawn widespread attention, including a petition drive calling for Johnson's release.
In 1998, the girl told her parents that Donald Wayne Spears had taken her and two other girls into a wooded area and molested two of them.
Johnson said he and his wife, frustrated by the pace of the Beauregard Parish Sheriff's investigation, lured Spears to an out-of- the-way road, where Johnson shot him.
Spears survived the shooting and later served two years and eight months in prison on two counts of indecent behavior with a juvenile. ..Source.. by Deseret News Publishing Co.
Shooter of alleged molester may go free
4-2-2003:
The state Pardon Board voted unanimously Tuesday to recommend that the governor release a man serving time for shooting his daughter's accused molester.
The decision by the Louisiana Board of Pardons means Allie "Bo" Johnson, 47, can leave prison now if Gov. Mike Foster signs off on the recommendation.
Johnson, who has been in prison for almost three years, was sentenced to seven years after pleading guilty to attempted manslaughter.
He shot Donald Wayne Spears in May 1998, after their daughter accused Spears of fondling her and another young girl while a third girl was forced to watch.
