100 Child Porn Files Earn Canton Man Prison Sentence

CANTON, GA — A man from Canton has been sentenced to prison for trying to leave the country with a cell phone and a tablet containing more than 100 files of child pornography, according to the Department of Justice.

Nathaniel Barber, 40, of Canton, was sentenced to five years in prison to be followed by 10 years of supervised release and ordered to pay a special assessment in the amount of $5,100. Barber was convicted of attempted international transport of child pornography on Nov. 17, 2020, after he pleaded guilty. Barber also 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,” Acting U.S. Attorney Kurt Erskine said. “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.”

In January 2020, special agents with Homeland Security Investigations received a tip that Barber might be traveling outside the country to commit sex crimes against minors. The agents learned that he 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 and questioned him about his trip.

Barber denied that he was traveling to the Philippines to engage in sex with anyone under the age of 18 years. But he admitted that he possessed child pornography on a tablet and cell phone. A forensic search of the items revealed that Barber had joined an online group where members posted and 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.

This case is being investigated by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations.