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Judge assigns special prosecutor to criminal charges and Ottawa County Prosecutor issues “Brady” dishonesty disclosures against investigator Trevor Johnson

Tuesday, June 30, 2026

Judge assigns special prosecutor to criminal charges and Ottawa County Prosecutor issues “Brady” dishonesty disclosures against investigator Trevor Johnson

Kent Johnson, convicted of assault, menacing, and theft of intimage images among other crimes against former Port Clinton firefighter Rebekah Huskey-Archacki. His son Trevor, an Ottawa County law-enforcement investigator and former Port Clinton firefighter, is now accused of falsifying public documents as part of a retaliation scheme against Ms. Huskey-Archacki.

Port Clinton, OH – The criminal case for falsifying public records initiated by a sexual-assault survivor against Ottawa County major-crimes investigator Trevor Johnson has escalated on multiple legal fronts. After former Port Clinton firefighter Rebekah Huskey-Archacki filed private-citizen-initiated-criminal charges, an Ohio visiting judge officially referred the matter to an outside special prosecutor. Meanwhile, Ottawa County Prosecuting Attorney James VanEerten suspended Johnson and issued mandatory constitutionally required dishonesty (Brady) disclosure notices for all active cases involving Johnson.

Court refers case to outside special prosecutor

Visiting Judge James D. Bates issued an order addressing the criminal affidavit filed against Johnson under R.C. 2935.09(D). Because Johnson is an active Ottawa County Prosecutor’s Office employee, Judge Bates ruled that local officials should be insulated from the criminal matter and referred the case for investigation to a special prosecutor—Henry County Prosecutor Gwen Howe-Gebers or her designee.

Prosecutor Howe-Gebers handled the related prosecution of Trevor Johnson’s father, Kent Johnson.

Because Judge Bates handles numerous pending criminal matters in Ottawa County, he formally recused himself from any further activity in the case to avoid conflicts of interest.

Prosecutor benches investigator, flags misconduct to staff

In a June 27, 2026 response to a letter from The Chandra Law Firm, Ottawa County Prosecuting Attorney James VanEerten detailed the prompt actions he took:

  • Immediate administrative leave: Within two hours of obtaining the private-citizen criminal filing on June 16, 2026, VanEerten stripped Johnson of his duties and placed him on administrative leave pending the criminal process’s outcome.

  • Mandatory Brady disclosures: On June 17, 2026, a formal Brady Disclosure Notice was distributed to all assistant prosecutors in the office. Staff were ordered to provide this notice to defense attorneys in every case where Johnson is a necessary witness, along with a copy of the documents reporting the evidence of his history of alleged record-tampering and falsification in retaliation for Ms. Huskey-Archacki’s reports about his now-convicted father.

  • Conflict insulation: Prosecutor VanEerten confirmed he was entirely uninvolved in the previous investigation of former Port Clinton Fire Chief Kent Johnson (which resulted in Johnson’s conviction and sentencing to jail for, among other things, assaulting Ms. Huskey-Archacki and theft of her intimate images) and will remain completely removed from Trevor Johnson’s criminal case.

Prosecutor VanEerten also kindly apologized to the victim and her family for the “unfortunate, but coincidental” timing of a local newspaper interview about Johnson that ran alongside the filings, clarifying his interview occurred on June 8, well before the criminal affidavit came to light. He emphasized that “Ms. Huskey-Archacki is a victim and deserves to be treated with the utmost respect and dignity.”

Subodh Chandra, Ms. Huskey-Archacki’s lead counsel, said, “Ms. Huskey-Archacki appreciates the judge’s and prosecutor’s swift actions regarding these allegations. While she would have preferred that the court rule on probable cause and issue an arrest warrant for Johnson as Ohio law provides when the evidence supports it, she understands that the court prefers that a prosecutor first investigate.”

Chandra added, “Ms. Huskey-Archacki hopes that the special prosecutor will not cover this up or cut any sweetheart deals, and will recognize that of all people, a law-enforcement officer who falsifies public records, tampers with evidence, and fails to report felonies of which he is aware deserves especially exacting justice—or our system of justice cannot operate with integrity.”

Background on the criminal charges

The underlying private-citizen filing establishes probable cause that Trevor Johnson committed third-degree felony tampering with evidence and records, along with falsification, complicity, and failing to report felony crimes of which he was aware. The charges stem from an internal city investigation into a retaliatory boycott where, after she reported serial sexual assault and sexual harassment by former-Chief Kent Johnson, fellow Port Clinton firefighters refused to answer 9-1-1 calls while Huskey-Archacki was on duty.

Kent Johnson was later charged, did not contest a conviction, and was sentenced to jail for his misconduct toward Ms. Huskey-Archacki and the City of Port Clinton. A federal civil-rights suit for, among other things, sex discrimination, retaliation, sexual harassment, sexual assault, civil liabilty for criminal acts, and disclosure of intimate images remains pending.

Trevor Johnson allegedly submitted false written statements denying any knowledge of the boycott and conspired with others to do so. But subpoenaed text messages caught Johnson actively coordinating the cover-up with other witnesses, stating, “Perfect. As soon as she’s gone, I’m back” and texting his father that “we will have our revenge... they fucked with the wrong family.”

When confronted with these text messages and other evidence during a federal civil deposition, Johnson invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination 22 times.

Huskey-Archacki is represented by Subodh Chandra, Courtney Bow, and Emily Bohatch of The Chandra Law Firm LLC.

The charges are captioned In re: Criminal charges against Trevor Johnson, Ottawa County Court of Common Pleas Case No. 26-CVH-425. They may be found here.

About the Chandra Law Firm LLC

The Chandra Law Firm LLC is a boutique civil-rights and white-collar-criminal-defense firm with offices in Berkeley, California; San Diego, California; Cleveland, Ohio; Santa Fe, New Mexico; and Reno, Nevada. Its lawyers handle high-profile matters across the country involving government abuses of power, police misconduct, and constitutional violations.

Chandra Law is experienced obtaining justice for victims of sex/gender discrimination including sexual harassment, employment discrimination, and employment retaliation. We also secure constitutional rights like those at issue in Ms. Huskey-Archacki's lawsuit.

And the firm helped pioneer work in holding individuals and companies accountable for
civil liability for criminal acts, securing the two leading Supreme Court of Ohio decisions favorable to crime victims on the topic.

If you think that your civil rights have been violated, you may
contact us to discuss your options. But please first visit and study our relevant practice pages first to ensure your case is a good fit.

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Related Practice Areas
Employment RetaliationSexual HarassmentSex/gender DiscriminationFirst Amendment RetaliationSexual Harassment at Work in California: Your Rights
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gwen-howe-gebersrebekah-huskeykent-johnsonrebekah-huskey-archackitrevor-johnsonjames-vaneerten

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