A Canton man was sentenced to prison on Friday for trying to leave the country in Jan. 2020 with devices containing over 100 files of child pornography.
According to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia, 40-year-old Nathaniel Barber also reportedly belonged to an online group that shared videos and photographs of child pornography.
“Every video and image of child pornography is a crime scene depicting the sexual abuse of a child,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Kurt R. Erskine. “This case reaffirms our office’s determination to leverage our federal, state, and local law enforcement partnerships to prosecute individuals who revictimize exploited children by downloading and viewing these horrific images.”
Special agents with Homeland Security Investigations first received a tip that Barber might be traveling outside the country to commit sex crimes against minors last January, according to the release. Agents found that Barber had purchased a plane ticket to the Philippines and was departing from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on Jan. 28, 2020.
Agents approached Barber at the boarding gate, where he denied he was traveling to the Philippines to engage in sex acts with anyone under the age of 18 years old. However, Barber did admit to the agents that he possessed child pornography on a tablet and cell phone. A forensic search of the devices found that Barber had joined an online group where members shared child pornography.
Barber had downloaded seven videos and 133 images of child pornography, with many of the materials depicting girls under 10 years old being sexually abused, according to the release.
“Luckily, he was not able to complete his trip and others engaged in this depravity should be on the lookout because we won’t stop searching for them," said Special Agent in Charge Katrina W. Berger, who oversees Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) operations in Georgia and Alabama.
Barber was sentenced to five years in prison, to be followed by ten years of supervised release. He was also ordered to pay a special assessment of $5,100. Barber was convicted of attempted international transport of child pornography on Nov. 17, 2020, after he pleaded guilty.
The case is being investigated by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations. Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul R. Jones prosecuted the case.
