MSU football signee arrested, charged with extortion of underage girl

A member of Michigan State’s 2021 football recruiting class has been arrested in Florida and is being charged with threatening an underage girl, saying he would release a video of her if she refused his advances.

Steffan Johnson, 18, has been charged with extortion and transmission of a sexual performance by a child in North Port, Florida, according to a police report obtained by The News.

Johnson (6-foot, 170 pounds) is a three-star cornerback from Venice (Florida) High and signed with the Spartans during the early signing period in December as part of the 2021 class. Johnson said on social media he planned to be in East Lansing for Michigan State’s final spring practice, which took place at Spartan Stadium on Saturday.

“Michigan State Athletics is aware of the matter and monitoring the situation," a Michigan State team spokesman said in an email to The News.

According to the report, North Port Police responded to a call from the father of a juvenile who told officers that his daughter had been threatened by a man and identified him as Johnson. The report stated Johnson said he would post a video of the girl performing a sex act on him after she denied his advances.

The report stated the girl told police Johnson drove to her street and asked her to meet him outside. After refusing to kiss Johnson and walking back inside the home, the report said the girl received a text message with a video of herself performing oral sex acts on the defendant along with the threat. The report added that Johnson and the girl were underage when the video was taken.

mcharboneau@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @mattcharboneau