(Ken Silva, Headline USA) This week 42 years ago, a 12-year-old paperboy named Johnny Gosch disappeared in a case that would become infamous for decades to come.
Thrust into the national spotlight in 1992 by America’s Most Wanted, the Sept. 5, 1982, abduction of Gosch was one of the key drivers in popularizing the notion of government-sponsored pedophile rings. Today, the idea that the U.S. government allows the nation’s powerful to molest children with impunity is common in American political discourse.
But while much of the public is starting to notice the relatively high-profile cases against the human-trafficking network operated by Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, one reporter is still searching for answers 42 later to the haunting question: Who took Johnny?
Moreover, that reporter, Nick Byrant, may have found an answer to that question—if only law enforcement would listen.
Who Took Johnny?
About 10 years after Gosch’s abduction, America’s Most Wanted ran a segment on the case. When it did, a human-trafficking victim named Paul Bonacci went public with allegations that he participated in Gosch’s disappearance.
Bonacci’s information was deemed credible by America’s Most Wanted producers when he accurately described a Colorado house that was allegedly used to imprison Gosch. Among other details, Bonnaci told investigators about a chamber beneath the home that was apparently used as a dungeon.
However, the FBI dismissed Bonacci as non-credible, and law enforcement failed to follow up on his leads.
Fast forward another 30 years, and Bryant reported new details on the Colorado home, including about its owner, ex-prison guard Charles Crouch—who turned out to be a serial pedophile. Bryant also tracked down Crouch’s ex-wife, who told Bryant that Crouch molested their oldest son, as well as her brother.
Bryant published a podcast and article about his new findings last year, but they received little attention. In an interview with Headline USA, Bryant later said he believes the FBI may have covered up the case.
“I talked to my friend in California, who connected me with a former police chief in California who had been the head of an anti-trafficking task force. He seemed gung-ho. I had the goods. I had the recording of his wife talking about his depravities,” Bryant told this publication.
“He really jumped on it, but like a lot of these cases, all the sudden he stopped returning my calls, and I haven’t heard from him for quite some time. And I do believe this guy was clean, but I do believe he bumped up against someone—probably the FBI.”
Bryant said Crouch is still alive in and living in New Mexico, and that he’s willing to provide information to law enforcement.
However, “Since the FBI covered it up, who am I going to go to?” he asked.
Since Bryant published his findings last October, the FBI has started to release records online about the Gosch case, as well as another pedophile scandal involving Gosch and Bonacci called the Franklin Scandal.
This week marks the 42nd anniversary of Johnny Gosch's disappearance. The FBI recently released records on the Gosch case, but they're mostly just old newspaper clippings. pic.twitter.com/SPF00m9ufa
— Ken Silva (@JD_Cashless) September 3, 2024
However, the FBI still has yet to make any arrests in the Gosch case. The bureau did not respond to an email inquiry about the matter.
Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at twitter.com/jd_cashless.
