A former Seneca Valley Junior ROTC instructor convicted of molesting a boy is appealing to the state’s Superior Court.

Sgt. Maj. Kevin Johnson, 55, of Portersville was convicted in December 2011 of 20 counts of sexual assault and child endangerment. He presently is serving an 11½- to 22½-year sentence at the state prison in Camp Hill.

According to previous testimony, Johnson met his victim when the boy was a 15-year-old freshman in the Seneca Valley School District and he joined the Junior ROTC program.

As the victim and his family grew to trust Johnson, who is a decorated Army man of more than two decades, Johnson began an escalating series of sexual assaults on the boy over a span of years. Eventually, the pair engaged in sexual acts multiple times a week in the Junior ROTC area of the school as well as another location on the campus, in Johnson’s car, and on a field trip.

The same jury that convicted Johnson also acquitted him of another 25 charges regarding a different boy who also made sexual abuse allegations against Johnson.

Butler attorney Jerry Cassady, who filed the appeal on behalf of Johnson, declined to talk about the issues the appeal is based on, saying only that court documents identifying the defendant’s complaints will be filed soon.