Former Brevard County Pastor Sentenced To Seven Years For Receiving Child Pornography

Orlando, Florida – U.S. District Judge Carlos E. Mendoza has sentenced Daniel Dale Barton, Sr. (57, Brevard County) to seven years in federal prison for receipt of child pornography. The court also ordered him to serve a 10-year term of supervised release and to forfeit a laptop computer, which was used in committing the offense. Barton pleaded guilty on February 7, 2018.

According to court documents, on March 2, 2017, an FBI Task Force Agent identified an Internet Protocol (IP) address that was being used to distribute images of child pornography. The agent downloaded child pornography images directly from the suspect’s computer and traced the IP address to a church located in Brevard County, Florida. On April 24, 2017, the agent executed a search warrant at the church, where she encountered Barton. Barton stated that he worked as a pastor for the church. He also admitted that he had used the church’s internet and his personal computer to search for and view child pornography. 

Specifically, Barton used peer-to-peer software to download images of child pornography and masturbated to those images. Barton stated that he had been viewing child pornography since he was a kid, felt guilty about viewing these images, and indicated that he had recently deleted them. A forensic analysis of Barton’s laptop computer revealed over 2,000 images of prepubescent girls engaged in the lascivious exhibition of genitals, which Barton had deleted from his computer.    

This case was investigated by the FBI and the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Ilianys Rivera Miranda.

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 locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.