Wilmington Man Sentenced To More Than 12 Years In Prison For Distribution Of Child Sexual Abuse Material

Press Release

The Defendant Admitted to Traveling from Wilmington to Western North Carolina to Engage in in Sexual Activity with a Toddler

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Joseph Lee Barnes, 35, of Wilmington, N.C. was sentenced to 151 months in prison today for distribution of child sexual abuse material (CSAM), announced Russ Ferguson, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. Upon his release from prison, Barnes will be subject to a lifetime of supervised release and must register as a sex offender. U.S. District Judge Max O. Cogburn, Jr. also ordered Barnes to pay $89,000 in restitution.

Cardell T. Morant, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in North Carolina and South Carolina, joins U.S. Attorney Ferguson in making today's announcement.

According to court documents and today's sentencing hearing, in February 2024, Barnes was in a private chatroom on an encrypted messaging platform that is dedicated to the exchange of CSAM and discussions of the sexual abuse and exploitation of children. Barnes shared with the chatroom three files that contained CSAM. An undercover agent monitoring the chatroom also received those files. The undercover agent then began to chat one-on-one with Barnes. During their communications, the undercover agent claimed to be an adult with access to a child. Barnes expressed an interest in engaging in illicit sexual acts with the child and arranged to meet with the undercover agent and have sex with the child. Barnes also told the undercover agent that he had previously sexually abused children in the United States and overseas.

According to court documents, the undercover agent and Barnes continued to communicate via text messages and online over the next few weeks, and Barnes continued to send the undercover agent additional CSAM. On March 14, 2024, Barnes traveled from Wilmington to Western North Carolina for the purpose of engaging in sexual acts with the child. Law enforcement arrested Barnes at the pre-arranged meeting location. Law enforcement also seized Barnes's phone and tablet and discovered child pornography images and videos on it. On the same day, HSI agents in Wilmington executed a search warrant at Barnes's apartment, seizing additional electronic devices and two external hard drives. A forensic analysis of the items seized revealed that Barnes maintained an extensive library of images and videos depicting the sexual abuse of children.

On October 30, 2024, Barnes pleaded guilty to distribution of child pornography. He is in federal custody and will be transferred to the custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons upon designation of a federal facility.

In making today's announcement, U.S. Attorney Ferguson commended HSI for their investigation of the case and thanked the USMS Carolinas Regional Fugitive Task Force

and the Waynesville Police Department for their invaluable assistance.

Assistant United States Attorney Alexis Solheim of the U.S. Attorney's Office in Asheville prosecuted the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc.rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc.

Updated April 15, 2025