Before his latest arrest, Johnson was considered a success story.

After leaving the treatment center, he landed a job at an RV restoration shop in Ocala, where he used his skills as a craftsman, refinishing woodwork on mobile homes. He joined a church, did odd jobs around town, attended group therapy sessions with other sexual offenders in the community and even started dating women.

But beneath the stable appearance, Johnson said he was struggling to find his way back into the community after spending more than 15 years in prison and the treatment center.

He said the therapy he received inside the treatment center hadn't prepared him for a transition back into the community.

"The place was just a zoo. It didn't help me at all," he said.

ATMs, newfangled gas pumps, the Internet, cellphones, even Wal-Mart, terrified him.

"I knew I was getting ready to crash," he said. "I appeared to be doing well, but I wasn't doing well."

THE DOWNFALL

In fact, police say Johnson sexually assaulted two boys during a six-month period.

One was a 16-year-old with an addiction problem. The boy told police that Johnson offered him money to help with odd jobs around town and then plied him with alcohol, marijuana and crack cocaine before forcing him to engage in sex -- including intercourse and oral sex.

The other was an 11-year-old who Johnson occasionally picked up from school. According to police reports, he would take the boy into the woods on the way home, force him to perform oral sex and threaten to hurt him if he told anyone.

Johnson's arrest for his attacks on the boys surprised and disappointed the dozen men he attended group therapy sessions with in a small strip mall.

"I've also been trying to process what happened with Ken," said Harry Evers, the clinician who leads Johnson's group session.

Said James Silcox, a member of Johnson's old group who spent 14 months inside the state's civil commitment center: "Ken went out and played a risky game. And he lost."