Samuel Kent Barnett Sentenced 151 Months for Receipt of Child Pornography

GREENEVILLE, TN—Samuel Kent Barnett, 48, of Johnson City, Tenn., was sentenced to 151 months in prison by the Honorable J. Ronnie Greer, U.S. District Court Judge, U.S. District Court at Greeneville.. Following his prison sentence, Barnett will be subject to supervised release by the U.S. Probation Office during the remainder of his life. The sentence was the result of a guilty plea by Barnett on October 14, 2010, to a federal grand jury indictment charging him with receipt of child pornography.

Barnett used personal computers to access the internet from his residence and downloaded images of minor children engaged in sexually explicit conduct since July 2008. Investigators were alerted to Barnett’s crime when the manager of the apartment building in which Barnett was residing observed stacks of child pornography images in plain view in Barnett’s 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, Tenn. 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 U.S. Attorney represented the United States.

“The punishment rendered in this case shows the seriousness of the Department of Justice as we continue to ferret out the criminals who commit these awful crimes on our children. Promotion, possession, and distribution of child pornography will not be tolerated., ” said U.S. Attorney Bill Killian.

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.