VAN BUREN, Mo. -- A Van Buren man is to make his first appearance in court next week after he recently was charged with sexual-related offenses and child pornography involving a teenage girl.
Barnaby Jonathan Carey, 39, is to appear Tuesday before Associate Circuit Judge Michael Ligons on the Class C felony of third-degree child molestation, two Class D felonies of second-degree statutory sodomy and the Class D felony of possession of child pornography.
The charges were filed Thursday by Carter County Prosecuting Attorney Amanda Oesch after information was provided to Carter County Sheriff Rick Stephens in early February.
Stephens, according to his probable-cause statement, was contacted Feb. 2 by a "community source," who had provided validated information in the past.
The source, the sheriff said, reported she was "concerned that an adult male was having sex with 'a little girl.'"
Stephens said the source identified Carey and the girl, who is 14 years old.
The source further reported Carey "had been snap chatting and messaging the child, and she had several screen shots of the conversation," said Stephens, who asked to see the pictures.
"Upon viewing the photographs of the Facebook messenger conversation, (Stephens) observed a person, screen name '--------' conversing with an unknown person, which the source stated was (the teen)," Stephens said. "The messages included '--------' expressing his/her love for the other.
"Additionally, the person stated that when the other turns 18, they wanted to marry them."
Upon viewing the message string, Stephens said, he saw the profile picture attached to the account was consistent with Carey.
Stephens said he also obtained a current Missouri Department of Revenue photo of Carey and found the "likeness on the profile picture in the message string matches the identification photograph of Mr. Carey."
On Wednesday, Stephens said, he spoke with the teenage girl, who reported "she is 'afraid of' Mr. Carey because 'he's always trying to have sex with me.'"
During the interview, Stephens said, the teen alleged Carey had tried pulling her pants down and tried to have sex with her.
The teen further reported Carey allegedly touched her inappropriately.
Stephens said he also interviewed Carey, who was told of his rights, on Wednesday in the sheriff's office.
During the interview, Stephens said, Carey admitted to sexually abusing the teen between December and Feb. 28.
Stephens said he also received written consent to search both the cellphones.
While Stephens was explaining the consent document and Carey's rights, "he (Carey) stated 'your (sic) going to find it anyways,'" the sheriff said. "He then described that there were two pictures of (the teen) on the phone in the pictures."
The photos, Stephens said, were described as being sexually explicit and found to be as such.
Stephens said Carey was arrested after his interview and booked at the Winona City Jail pending the filing of formal charges.
Winona officials, the sheriff said, subsequently served Carey his arrest warrant on the next day.
Carey continues to be held in the Winona City Jail on a $50,000 cash or corporate surety bond.
At the time of his arrest, Stephens said, Carey was on parole.
"He told me he did 12 years for robbery," Stephens said.
Carey, according to a Probation and Parole official, was released from the Missouri Department of Corrections on Aug. 9 after having been received in the prison system on Jan. 7 2005.
According to Casenet, Carey pleaded guilty in December 2004 to the Class A felony of first-degree robbery and the Class C felony of first-degree tampering with a motor vehicle in St. Francois County.
Carey was sentenced to 15 years in prison on the robbery charge and three years on the tampering charge, with the sentences to be served consecutively.
Carey's parole on the robbery charge expires on May 5, while his parole on the tampering charge expires May 4, 2021.
The Probation and Parole official further said since Carey's sentences are consecutive, he will not start serving the tampering sentence until after completing the robbery sentence.