A 56-year-old Indiana man is behind bars after driving more than a hundred miles to Racine County, Wisconsin, in hopes of having sex with two girls, ages 11 and 15.
Richard Barney made his first court appearance in this case on Thursday. He’s charged with six felonies: use of a computer to facilitate a child sex crime, attempted first-degree sexual assault of a child under age 12, attempted second-degree sexual assault of a child under 16 years of age, and three counts of possession of child pornography.
The Racine County Sheriffs Office explained Barney was arrested after an investigator with the Internet Crimes Against Children Unit (ICAC) posted online as a mother willing to sell her kids for sex. Richard Barney took the bait.
“He indicated he was interested in coming and traveling here to Racine county to have sex with an 11-year-old and a 15-year-old,” said Racine County Sheriff Christopher Schmaling.
According to court documents, it all started last week when the undercover investigator came across a Craigslist ad Barney posted called “Taboo.”
“Normally these investigations go on...there are conversations for weeks and months because they are uncertain if this was a sting. This progressed very quickly, which should be concerning to everyone hearing this,” Schmaling said.
Barney agreed to meet who he thought was the mother “Karen” and her girls outside a Racine county business, but instead he was greeted by a team of law enforcement officials. Barney had viagra on him and child pornography on his cell phone.
“We have taken a very sick pedophile who is preying on children out of the community.”
TODAY'S TMJ4 learned in court, Richard Barney has admitted to doing this before. Barney’s cash bond was set at $100,000. He will be back in court for his preliminary hearing March 7.
