Former Second Grade School Teacher Sentenced to Six and a Half Years for Downloading Child Pornography

ORLANDO, FL—U.S. Attorney A. Brian Albritton announces that U.S. District Judge John Antoon, II today sentenced Robert Sewell Barth (age 57, of Orlando) to six years and six months in federal prison for receiving child pornography. The court also ordered Barth to forfeit the computer he used to download the child pornography and required him to pay a fine of $7,500.

According to court documents, Barth purchased child pornography from an Italian website in 2005. The website was taken down through an international investigation and Barth’s account records were turned over to the FBI. The FBI approached Barth in December 2008, and Barth admitted to downloading child pornography from the Internet. Barth’s computer had hundreds of images of child pornography and more than 20 videos. Computer forensic examination uncovered that Barth viewed videos of small girls being sexually assaulted. Barth’s collection of child pornography included videos of girls as young as approximately 6 years old being raped and photographs of children as young as approximately 2 years old. An expert witness testified on behalf of Barth that he was a pedophile with a sexual interest in children. In addition to serving as an elementary school teacher, Barth was a foster parent in several states and participated with the boy scouts.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

This case was investigated by Federal Bureau of Investigation. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney J. Bishop Ravenel.