An heiress to the Johnson & Johnson pharmaceutical empire opened a luxury orphanage in Cambodia with the goal of helping abandoned children reach their ‘fullest potential’.
But now, eight years since her death from Alzheimer’s, Elizabeth Ross Johnson’s legacy has once again been rocked by scandal after children and staff came forward to unmask decades of physical and sexual abuse suffered at the orphanage.
Johnson, known by her friends as Libet, founded the Sovann Komar orphanage in 2003, just one year after her first visit to Cambodia.
Children were charted in minivans to private schools, attended Cambodian dance classes and were visited by Santa Claus at Christmas – a holiday not traditionally celebrated in the country.
The heiress, during her visit in 2002, embarked on a so-called poverty tour of the slums of Phnom Penh as her personal life was publicly scrutinized in a salacious Vanity Fair expose detailing her affair high-society hairdresser Frédéric Fekkai and five failed marriages.
She lived in a stunning $48 million Manhattan mansion.
Johnson was mortified by the scenes of hungry children roaming the Cambodian streets. She had ‘her own poverty of the heart’ and ‘felt their plight deeply,’ a friend who accompanied her on the trip told the Wall Street Journal.
She then teamed up with Sothea Arun, who had been their local guide on the trip, and established the Sovann Komar orphanage. Johnson poured $20million into the project until her death in 2017 at age 66 from early-onset Alzheimer’s disease.
The pair positioned the home to be a ‘safe, nurturing’ facility that aimed to help children grow ‘physically, intellectually and spiritually.’ But in actuality children were beaten, raped and forced to endure corporal punishment by the foster parents hired to look after them, alleged victims have now claimed.
Sothea was convicted of rape, child abuse and fraud, and sentenced to serve 22 years in Cambodian prison. He currently lives in hiding, according to the newspaper.
Dr. Liionel Bissoon, Elizabeth ‘Libet’ Johnson and their son William, who was adopted from Cambodia, are pictured together at her home in Manhattan’s Trump Tower in 2003
Johnson (pictured with hair stylist Frederic Fekkai in the early 2000s) founded an orphanage in Cambodi after Vanity Fair published an article scrutinizing her romance with Fekkai. The scathing article criticized her party girl lifestyle and five failed marriages
Johnson was a ‘very private person’ and seldom made headlines, despite being one of the richest women in America whose fortune was worth an estimated $635million.
She became a topic of high-society scandal in March 2001 when Vanity Fair published an article scrutinizing her romances and party girl lifestyle.
Johnson was known to charter her friends to exotic destinations on private jets and yachts, and throw an over-the-top Halloween costume ball at her 600-acre horse farm and mansion in upstate New York.
She owned luxurious properties in Manhattan and a chalet in Vail, a Colorado town best known for its ski resorts.
The heiress had five failed marriages, four of which each produced one child, and dated several younger men including singer Michael Bolton.
Her friends told the magazine she would ‘go through eras with men,’ alleging that with each new partner came a ‘change of style, milieu, and homes.’
When Johnson was no longer interested in a man, she would ‘throw him out,’ a friend explained. However, she would reportedly leave her former husbands with settlements worth ‘millions.’
But her most unusual relationship at that point was with Fekkai, a celebrity hair stylist who cut Johnson’s hair before the pair began dating in October 1999.
Fekkai was ‘amazing with women’ and would get them ‘eating out of the palm of his hand’, his friends said. He was also reportedly ‘controlling when it comes to women.’
The hair stylist’s friends criticized their relationship in the expose, claiming that dating Johnson was ‘a cage for Frederic’ and that she was ‘draining his energy.’
Johnson’s friends, on the contrary, described her as being a ‘lost soul’ and someone who ‘desperately wants to be in love all the time.’
The heiress co-founded the Sovann Komar orphanage in 2003. Johnson poured $20million into the project until her death in 2017 at age 66. Pictured are children at the facility
She owned several luxurious properties in Manhattan, including this $48million townhouse in the desirable Upper East Side neighborhood
Given the nasty commentary from her so-called friends, it is no surprise that Johnson was seemingly searching for a purpose when she visited Cambodia in 2002.
She was introduced to Sothea through a friend in New York’s charity sector and after her visit to Phnom Penh, the pair became fast friends.
The had deep heart-to-hearts when he visited her home in Trump Tower, with Sothea telling her how he had been orphaned and watched his little sister starve to death, WSJ reported.
Johnson told him about her divorces and the two ‘cried together,’ Arun said.
They founded Sovann Komar in early 2003. Both Johnson and Arun each adopted a Cambodian baby that same year.
Johnson appointed Arun as executive director of the orphanage, which sought to make sure that children grew up with families – not in an institution.
The facility would fire foster parents to look after four to six infants and toddlers. Foster families also agreed not to have biological children during the first three years of fostering.
Johnson worked with a ‘range of professionals and friends’ to create a ‘core team’ that was focused on putting the children’s interests first, a Sovann Komar spokesman told the newspaper
Orphanage co-founder Sothea Arun was convicted of rape, child abuse and fraud, and sentenced to serve 22 years in Cambodian prison
Sovann Komar was positioned to be a ‘safe, nurturing’ facility that aimed to help children grow ‘physically, intellectually and spiritually.’ Pictured are orphans and facility staff
But former staff members have now alleged the facility lacked oversight, governance and safeguarding practices.
One orphan, then 13, alleged in 2015 that she was raped by her foster mother’s brother. He was convicted of the crime three years later.
In 2017, two boys reported to the orphanage doctor that their foster father would beat them with a belt for ‘insubordination.’
The parents were reportedly given a ‘stern warning’ that they could be dismissed from the program. One of the accusers was taken to a local psychiatrist for a mental health evaluation.
Following the allegations, the orphanage hired an outside organization to assess the well-being of the children.
The third-party, in a confidential report obtained by WSJ, found that many of the children had self-harmed or battled suicidal ideation.
The report also revealed allegations against Sothea, with some children alleging he choked and slapped them.
Two girls, in 2020, also accused him of sexually abusing and raping them from the age of 6. One of the alleged victims has since withdrawn her statement, claiming she was ‘lured and forced’ into making the accusation by Sovann Komar’s lawyer.
Johnson (pictured in 2008) died in her New York City home on June 3, 2017 after a lengthy battle with Alzheimer’s Disease
Pictured is a memorial for Johnson held at Sovann Komar following her death
Johnson died in her New York City home on June 3, 2017 after a lengthy battle with Alzheimer’s Disease.
She was so ill during her final months that staffers at her mansion had to stick huge signs to its walls directing her to the basic functions she used.
Sothea was terminated from his position at the orphanage in August 2019, alongside four of Sovann Komar’s top management officials.
He was convicted of the rape of two children, embezzlement and committing fraud of over $1.4million, The Khmer Times reported.
A Cambodian judge sentenced him to 22 years in jail in absentia in July 2024. The country’s appeals court upheld his conviction earlier this year.
Bradley J. Gordon, who represents the orphanage, has criticized police for not apprehending Sothea, who is still at large today and suspected to be hiding in Thailand.
‘Mr Sothea Arun needs to be brought to justice and arrested for his shocking crimes against children,’ Gordon told the court in January.
‘We are appalled at the behavior and incompetency of the police for their inability to arrest the convicted criminals.’
