United States of America v. Ronnie Allen Barton

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant charged with two counts of attempted coercion and enticement of a minor, commission of a sex offense by a registered sex offender, and
attempted receipt of child pornography.

Reported by Kent Morlan

Ronnie Allen Barton was charged in a four-count indictment. The first two counts charged him with attempted coercion and enticement of a minor, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 2422(b) and 2426(a). Count One involved a minor, Jane Doe 1, and Count Two involved a different minor, Jane Doe 2. But neither Jane Doe was a real person. Instead, the purported minors were inv ented as a part of an undercover online investigation.

Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent David Garrison pretended to be
a man with access to an 11-year-old niece and nine-year-old stepdaughter, who he
referred to as his “littles.” R., vol. III at 93. Calling himself “Alex,” Agent Garrison
created a post on an online site known as DoubleList that offered online classified or
personal ads. Id. Alex’s DoubleList post indicated he was interested in “watching
others spend time with me and enjoy my littles.”

The Defendant was found guilty and was sentenced to to concurrent terms of 180 months’ imprisonment on the attempted coercion and enticement and child pornography charges, followed by a consecutive term of
120 months on the commission of a sex offense charge.