Home Knoxville Press Releases 2010 Johnson City Resident Samuel Kent Barnett Pleads Guilty to Receipt of Child Pornography
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Johnson City Resident Samuel Kent Barnett Pleads Guilty to Receipt of Child Pornography

U.S. Attorney’s Office October 15, 2010
  • Eastern District of Tennessee (865) 545-4167

GREENEVILLE, TN—On October 14, 2010, Samuel Kent Barnett, 47, of Johnson City, Tenn., pleaded guilty in United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee, to receipt of child pornography. Sentencing was set for February 28, 2011, at 9:00 a.m., in the United States District Court in Greeneville.

Barnett faces a minimum of five years and up to 20 years in prison, a fine of up to $ 250,000, and up to life on supervised release following his incarceration.

Since 2008, Barnett used personal computers to access the Internet from his residence and downloaded images of minor children engaged in sexually explicit conduct. Investigators were alerted to Barnett’s crime when the manager of the apartment building in which he was residing observed stacks of child pornography images in plain view in his apartment.

On March 9, 2010, a two-count indictment, which included the aforementioned charge, was returned against Barnett by a federal grand jury sitting in Greeneville, Tennessee. This indictment was the result of an ongoing investigation by the Johnson City Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. J. Gregory Bowman, Assistant United States Attorney represented the United States.

This case was brought as part of Public Safe Childhood (PSC), a Department initiative launched in 2006 that aims to combat the proliferation of technology-facilitated sexual exploitation crimes against children. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Department of Justice Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, PSC marshals federal, state, tribal, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information visit ProjectSafeChildhood.gov.

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