Silver Spring Man Sentenced to 10 Months in Prison for Failing to Register as a Sex Offender
Greenbelt, Maryland - U.S. District Judge J. Frederick Motz sentenced Ricky F. Barnes, age 35, of Silver Spring, Maryland, today to 10 months in prison, followed by two years of supervised release, for failing to register as a sex offender.
The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein and Maryland U.S. Marshal Johnny Hughes.
According to the plea agreement, in April 2000, Barnes was sentenced in the District of Columbia for second degree child sexual abuse and attempted kidnapping. Upon his release from prison Barnes was required to register as a sex offender in the place where he resided, where he was an employee, and where he was a student, under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA). Initially, Barnes complied with the requirement to register, but on April 9, 2007, he was convicted in Montgomery County for failing register as a sex offender and sentenced to six months of probation. Barnes subsequently registered as a sex offender in the District of Columbia from 2008 through 2010.
On January 26, 2010, Barnes obtained a Maryland driver’s license that listed an address in Silver Spring. In June 2010, Barnes reported to the D.C. Sex Offender Registry Office that he was leaving the country for work and would be gone approximately 18 months. Barnes never left the country and has been residing in Maryland since January 2010. During that time, Barnes has not registered as a sex offender in Maryland, as required by SORNA.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc For more information about internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the "resources" tab on the left of the page.
United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein commended the U.S. Marshals Service for its work in the investigation. Mr. Rosenstein thanked Special Assistant U.S. Attorney LisaMarie Freitas of the U.S. Justice Department, Criminal Division, Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, who prosecuted the case.
