A former officer of the Metropolitan Police Department, Linwood Barnhill, has been sentenced to a 27-year prison term after pleading guilty to sex trafficking minors, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office. The 59-year-old D.C. resident and registered sex offender was also handed a lifetime of supervised release and ordered to pay $10,000 in restitution.
U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro, in conjunction with FBI Special Agent in Charge Reid Davis, announced the sentencing delivered by Judge Jia M. Cobb. Davis commented on the case, "While serving as a police officer over a decade ago, Barnhill preyed on underage girls. He took explicit photos of them, and even forced one victim to work as a prostitute," adding about Barnhill's return to criminal behavior after a previous conviction, "Upon his release from prison, he resumed trafficking minors for sex."
Court documents revealed that Barnhill actively recruited girls under 18 for commercial sex acts between April 2024 and April 2025, profiting over $10,000 from one girl. He leveraged coercion to involve his victims in recruiting others, perpetuating the cycle of exploitation. Detailed in the same court documents, one particular instance involved Barnhill encouraging a 15-year-old girl to perform at a strip club, going so far as to drive her multiple times a week to the establishment located in Prince George’s County, Maryland.
Further investigation into Barnhill's activities disclosed his tactics for expanding his illegal operations, including the payment to another minor, aged 15, to enlist more young girls into his sex trafficking ring. Examinations of Barnhill's iCloud account uncovered communication with at least 10 other identified minor girls discussing "the club" and "VIP rooms," in a statement obtained by the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Before these events, Barnhill was sentenced in 2014 to seven years in prison after pleading guilty to charges of pandering a minor and possessing child pornography. His return to sex trafficking under the alias "Nico" sparked the recent investigation by the FBI’s Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force, leading to the current charges and subsequent sentencing. Assistant U.S. Attorney Caroline Burrell prosecuted the case, which falls under the Department of Justice's Project Safe Childhood initiative, focused on protecting children from online exploitation and abuse.
