This Woman Hid A Dark Secret For Two Decades Before Being Caught Out

A Troubled Youth

Charity Johnson was a troubled youth. After a difficult upbringing, Charity had appeared to develop some disturbing character traits. She was a compulsive liar, with a special talent for deceiving those around her.

Feared by Locals

“She was always scheming,” Ray Ward, a 66-year-old resident of Longview, told BuzzFeed in 2014. “She tried to read you. You’re not even thinking about her reading you like that, not a 14- or 15-year-old.”

A Budding Criminal

Left alone to her own scheming devices, Charity mastered the art of deception. She became a serial con artist. Fleeing from city to city, from Texas to North Carolina, Maryland to New Jersey, Charity would resort to manipulation in order to befriend and take advantage of many unsuspecting victims.

Rough Start

Charity Johnson – who also went by the name of Charity Stevens – had a rough start to her life. She was the daughter of a convicted murderer, who was serving a life sentence behind bars. Her mother, Shirley Anne Burton, was a long-time drug addict and paranoid schizophrenic.

Tragic Circumstances

Disturbingly, the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) looked into numerous reports that Burton was an emotionally and physically abusive caregiver. Despite the allegations, Burton would remain as Charity’s primary caregiver for most of her early life. After years of drug misuse, Burton would abandon her daughter entirely.

More Trouble

Charity then moved to a local foster home before she was taken in by her older sister Melissa and her husband Barry. The pair claimed Charity was rebellious and beyond their control. Charity made vicious claims that Barry had attempted to have inappropriate relations with her but she later retracted her defamatory allegations.

Another Disaster

After being made to leave Melissa and Barry’s home, Charity moved in with an allegedly violent couple called Karen and Dave Stevens. “They yelled and screamed at her and always treated her like a little kid,” Tamara Tolbert, a former family acquaintance, later told BuzzFeed News. “Maybe they brainwashed her. When I saw her in the news, I was like, ‘Does she even know who she is?’”

Seeking Help

Charity began connecting with Daphne Fortune, the director of a Maryland youth advocacy group. The girl would often reach out to older, maternal women, especially religious types, on social media platforms. In 2011, Daphne took Charity under her wing. Charity had weaved a tale that she was a homeless and destitute 15-year-old. Fortune eventually learned the shocking truth and put Charity on a bus to Texas.

More Manipulation

Charity moved on to her next victims. She then latched onto a local Texan pastor and his wife, Robert and Rosalind Brown, residents of the small town of Marshall. “She said she missed out on a childhood since she was raised on the streets, went from house to house and experienced abuse,” Robert told BuzzFeed. “She knew exactly what to tell us.” The girl continued her manipulations.

New Victims

The Browns were suspicious of their mysterious visitor. They soon discovered the disturbing truth after messaging some of Charity’s Facebook friends. Charity moved on, ending up in a local shelter called House of Hope. The staff asked few questions about her past. The girl had perfected the deceptive role of the rebellious and wild teenager.

The Crimes Continue

In 2014 Charity found yet another unsuspecting stranger to exploit. She moved in with Tamica Lincoln, a 30-year-old manager of a local restaurant in Longview, Texas. Lincoln had had her reservations about allowing Charity into her home, nevertheless, she believed that Charity was a vulnerable teenager and she took her in.

No Conscience

Charity appeared to have no moral conscience about her actions. She continued to lie. She enrolled at New Life High School during the previous fall, telling the local school that she had been abandoned by her parents and treated terribly by her foster families. Strangely, there was no record of her having any previous education…

More Lies

On Mother’s Day in 2014 Charity traveled to Dallas to meet Osarieme Obaseki, a 40-year-old director of a religious non-profit organization for troubled and orphaned girls. The two had forged a seemingly authentic and deep bond over months of Facebook interactions. “Our connection was all-consuming,” Obaseki told BuzzFeed. “It took over my everyday life.”

Who was She?

When they finally met in person, Obaseki had trouble believing that Charity was the 15-year-old girl whom she said she was. “I can’t really explain it, but I listened to her and knew something wasn’t right. Her stories were changing,” Obaseki said. “When my sister saw her, she said, ‘That is not a child, look at her body!’”

A Bizarre Discovery

Obaseki reached out to Tamica Lincoln, who was Charity’s legal guardian at the time. The two women were unconvinced that Johnson was who she said she was. They conducted a thorough background check in an attempt to discover who Charity really was.

The Big Reveal

Lincoln eventually found Charity’s employment details, she had once worked at a local McDonald’s. According to the company’s records, Charity was born in 1979. The ‘young girl’ who claimed to be a teenager was actually a 34-year-old woman. Lincoln and Obaseki had finally uncovered the truth.

Fianlly Caught

Lincoln contacted the police and waited outside her apartment while they confronted Charity. The officers asked Johnson for identification, Charity refused, repeatedly lying to the officers. After they had had enough, she was finally arrested. She subsequently confessed to the minor charge of failing to identify herself to law enforcement and spent almost a month in jail before fleeing the town.

Devastated Guardian

“I cried and cried,” Lincoln told BuzzFeed. The woman who had shown pity to Charity had been deceived. “To be honest, I wanted to fight her, but I’m not a fighter. Why did she have to lie like that? All she had to do was tell me the truth, and I would’ve let her stay.” After learning the truth, Lincoln couldn’t even bring herself to return to the home that they had shared. “It felt evil in there,” she said.

Two Decades of Lies

Charity had successfully masqueraded as a teenager for twenty years. She appeared to show psychological signs that pointed to her deteriorating mental health. She appeared to have no conscience as she committed crime after crime, claiming to be an innocent teenager.

How Did She Get Away with it?

“She finds damaged people,” Obaseki told BuzzFeed. “This is what I want you to understand: a lawyer know another lawyer, a liar know another liar. It was just there: the connection, the energy. People know people. We knew each other.”

A Different Identity

There was another person that Johnson had lied to. Charity’s then-boyfriend, 23-year-old Rickie Williams, was stunned to discover that he had actually been dating a woman well into her 30s. He believed she was just 18 years old, he only learned the truth after her arrest. “I was shocked,” he told KLTV.

A Plea for Compassion

Appearing on KETK, Charity made a sad confession; “I’m just a normal person. Like any other normal person, trying to pursue her education, get her education and make it through life… and be a better person… I guess you can say I was looking for love…”

Was she a That Bad?

“Charity wanted to be wanted; she wanted someone to love her unconditionally, like a mother should love her child,” Obaseki explained. “She’s not a con artist for money; she’s a con artist for love.” Strangely, her former classmates at the New Life school miss her rather than hate her for her many lies.

A Sad Motive

But the fact remained that Johnson had lied to so many over two decades. “I just don’t know why she did it,” said Lincoln. “Why put yourself and others at risk to do something like this.” Her desperate attempts to return to childhood had hurt so many.

Finally Famous

Johnson seemed to have delusions of one day becoming famous. “The irony of it is she would say, ‘Momma, I’m going to be famous one day,’ Obaseki said. Since the news story broke, revealing the strange story to the world, Johnson has finally become famous.

A Fair Warning

The story was picked by Time Magazine, Buzzfeed News, and multiple local news stations. Those involved, like Lincoln, Ray Ward, and Obaseki, hope that their run-in with Johnson will warn others of similar con artists. As they say, no good deed goes unpunished…