A Wilmington man has been handed a sentence of more than 12 years in federal prison for his role in the distribution of child sexual abuse material. The individual, identified as 35-year-old Joseph Lee Barnes, will also face a lifetime of supervised release post-incarceration and is required to register as a sex offender, according to a recent announcement by the U.S. Attorney's Office, Western District of North Carolina.
In addition to the prison term, U.S. District Judge Max O. Cogburn, Jr. ordered Barnes to pay $89,000 in restitution. This order comes after Barnes's February 2024 capture in an encrypted messaging platform's chatroom, where he shared child sexual abuse material. Working undercover, an agent received three files containing CSAM from Barnes, who later expressed interest in illicit conduct with a purported child the agent claimed to have access to. Court documents reveal Barnes had previously committed sexual abuse both in the United States and abroad.
Further communication between Barnes and the undercover agent resulted in additional exchange of CSAM. Barnes then traveled with the intent to engage in sexual acts with a child, but was arrested by law enforcement at the pre-arranged meeting location on March 14, 2024. His devices, which contained numerous images and videos of child pornography, were seized at the scene and during a subsequent search of his apartment by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents.
A forensic analysis of the confiscated items unveiled an extensive collection of media depicting child sexual abuse within Barnes's possession. Following his guilty plea to distribution of child pornography on October 30, 2024, Barnes awaits transfer to the federal prison system. The case, prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Alexis Solheim of the Asheville office, was a cooperative effort of HSI, the USMS Carolinas Regional Fugitive Task Force, and the Waynesville Police Department.
