Richard Barker Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison and Lifetime Supervised Release for Possession of Child Pornography

The Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Vermont stated that Richard Barker, 66, of Brookline, Vermont, was sentenced today to 120 months in prison, having pled guilty to one count of possessing child pornography. Chief United States District Judge Christina C. Reiss, sitting in Rutland, also sentenced Barker to lifetime supervised release.

Court records indicate that Barker possessed more than 1,000 child pornography video and image files on two different computers. Records also show that Barker downloaded and shared child pornography on the Internet. In 2002, Barker was convicted in Vermont State Court of sexual assault on a 13-year-old boy.

For his crime, Barker faced a mandatory minimum penalty of 10 years’ imprisonment, a maximum term of incarceration of 20 years, up to lifetime supervised release with a mandatory minimum of five years, and up to a $250,000 fine. In sentencing Barker, Judge Reiss cited the seriousness of the crime, including the graphic nature of his child pornography collection and his prior state sexual assault conviction.

The investigation was led by the by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Christina Nolan prosecuted the case. Barker was represented by Lisa Shelkrot, Esq., of Burlington, Vermont.

This prosecution was part of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by the U.S. Attorney’s Offices and the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.