An Anaheim man and self-described “incel” who admitted to committing hate crimes by pepper-spraying multiple people was sentenced this week to four years in prison, according to officials.
Johnny Deven Young pleaded guilty to one count of assault with force likely to produce great bodily injury and four counts of illegal use of tear gas, according to court records. Young also admitted to personal use of a deadly weapon and hate crimes, both sentencing enhancements.
Young posted videos on his YouTube channel that show him pepper-spraying and sexually harassing women in attacks that occurred in November 2021 and April 2022, according to the Orange County district attorney’s office.
In the November 2021 incident, Young verbally harassed a 24-year-old woman as she was leaving a bar near the Triangle Square shopping center, police said. Young allegedly pepper sprayed her and her companion, a 29-year-old man.
He was arrested in September 2022 and has been held in Orange County Jail.
Young has publicly identified himself as an “incel,” a portmanteau of “involuntary celibates,” an online community of men who express their frustration at women because they don’t feel like they’re sexually attractive to them.
“No one should have to live in fear that they could be indiscriminately attacked and then publicly humiliated on the internet because of their gender,” Orange County Dist. Atty. Todd Spitzer said. “This behavior is disgusting, and the celebration of this behavior by like-minded individuals is completely unacceptable.”
In August 2019, Young and another man shouted “white power” at XS Nightclub at Encore in Las Vegas and threatened to “shoot up the place,” according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
In connection with that incident, Young was found guilty of harassment motivated by hate or bias and sentenced to a year in Clark County Detention Center.
