PHOTO: Jackson County Jail
JACKSON COUNTY, Miss.–No parent wants to be out looking for their teenager. No parent wants their child to run away. And one of the dangers is meeting up with someone like Joseph Eugene Barber, Sr. He got a 15-year sentence for molesting a 14-year-old runaway inside his tent.
It happened in 2013, apparently several times between July and September, said D.A. Tony Lawrence, when Barber was able to get the girl to come inside his tent, in Pascagoula at a homeless camp.
“This defendant took advantage of the victim and used the situation to satisfy his depraved sexual desires,” said Assistant District Attorney Shon Ellerby in a statement. “The sentencing today held this defendant accountable for his actions without having the victim to suffer through the trauma of a trial.”
Barber pled guilty to three counts of sexual battery. He will have to serve his 15 years day for day.
He also has to pay several thousand dollars in fines and fees to the Mississippi Children’s Trust Fund and the Crime Victims Compensation Fund.
Barber will also have to register as a sex offender.
