Aurora man gets 16 years for child abuse, porn
An Aurora man was sentenced Friday to 16 years in prison for molesting a young girl and possessing thousands of sexual images of children on his computers.
Larry J. Barker, 59, who previously had a clean criminal record, expressed remorse and accepted responsibility for his crimes through an earlier guilty plea.
Still, DuPage Circuit Judge Peter J. Dockery gave the near-maximum punishment after telling Barker he poses a threat to society and has little rehabilitative potential. The judge earlier reviewed some of the pornographic images, one of which displayed a 6-year-old.
Barker faced up to 18 years in prison for felony aggravated criminal sexual abuse and aggravated child pornography charges. Police began investigating him in October when a Wheaton detective scanning the Internet for child predators discovered a graphic movie of children engaged in sex acts being distributed among various Web sites.
Authorities later traced it back to Barker, but they did not make an immediate arrest so that forensic experts could analyze his seized computers.
Police caught Barker in the act of downloading more illicit images when they raided his apartment on the 300 block of North Oakhurst Drive, prosecutor Brian Perkins said, adding that Barker confessed and said he just felt like being "naughty."
"Police recovered 30,000 videos and images from Barker," Perkins said. "Of the sample they took, 95 to 100 percent were all child pornography."
Barker, though, said authorities twisted his words. He also apologized.
"I'm asking for mercy," he said. "I don't want to get out (of prison) an old man. I'd like a chance to get out and rebuild my life with my family. That's all I ask."
It was during the child pornography investigation that detectives also uncovered allegations that Barker repeatedly inappropriately touched an underage teen girl while she was in his care.
His attorney, Jeff York, a senior assistant DuPage County public defender, argued Barker suffers from depression and needs counseling. Despite the crime, York said, Barker long led a law-abiding life that included his military service in Vietnam. York argued Barker's remorse and cooperation with police merited the judge's consideration.
"He is devastated at where he finds himself today," York said. "If he could go back and change it, he would."
Barker is eligible for parole in about eight years. Afterward, he must register with police for the rest of his life as a convicted sex offender.