An Anaheim man and self-described “incel” who admitted to committing a hate crime by spraying multiple people was sentenced this week to four years in prison, officials said.
Johnny Deven Young pleaded guilty to one count of assault with violence likely to cause great bodily harm and four counts of unlawful use of tear gas, according to court records. Young also pleaded guilty to personal use of a deadly weapon and hate crime, both charges.
Young posted videos on his YouTube channel showing 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 left 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 incarcerated in the 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 with women because they don’t feel they are sexually attractive to them.
“No one should have to live in fear that they may be indiscriminately attacked and then publicly humiliated on the internet because of their gender,” said 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 “suspend the place,” according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
In connection with that incident, Young was found guilty of harassment motivated by hatred or bias and sentenced to one year in the Clark County Detention Center.