A registered sex offender from Jefferson County, Missouri, has been sentenced to 16 years in prison. U.S. District Judge Stephen R. Clark delivered the sentence on Thursday to Seth Allen Barger, aged 42, who was found guilty of possessing child sexual abuse material and attempting to engage an 11-year-old girl in a sexual conversation via Facebook Messenger.
In 2023, Barger sent a friend request to the victim. On July 26, he used Facebook Messenger to initiate a sexual dialogue with her. The girl’s mother reported the incident to the St. Louis County Police Department, prompting an investigation. During an interview with law enforcement, Barger claimed his account had been hacked. However, after consenting to a search of his phone by a detective from the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, authorities discovered 35 images containing child sexual abuse material.
Barger entered a guilty plea in November at the U.S. District Court in St. Louis for one count of receiving child pornography and one count of enticement of a minor.
The investigation involved multiple agencies including the St. Louis County Police Department, the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, and the FBI. Assistant U.S. Attorney Dianna Edwards led the prosecution.
This case falls under Project Safe Childhood, an initiative launched by the Department of Justice in May 2006 aimed at combating child exploitation and abuse online through collaboration among federal, state, and local resources.
For more details about Project Safe Childhood and its efforts against child exploitation, visit www.justice.gov/psc.
