Thornton Resident Enters Guilty Plea to Transportation of a Minor with Intent to Engage in Criminal Sexual Activity

CLARKSBURG, WV—A 49-year-old Thornton, West Virginia resident entered a plea of guilty on April 23, 2010, in United States District Court in Clarksburg before Judge Irene M. Keeley.

United States Attorney Betsy C. Jividen announced that BRADLEY BARRETT, a tour bus driver, entered a plea of guilty to the transportation of a minor girl from West Virginia to a Virginia hotel as part of a tour of Washington, D.C. in June 2008, with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity.

BARRETT faces a maximum penalty of 10 years’ to life imprisonment and a fine of $250,000.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Andrew R. Cogar. The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Taylor County Sheriff’s Department.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006, by the Department of Justice. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, 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 about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.