Babysitter Who Filmed Himself Sexually Abusing Toddler Gets 60 Years In Prison

Two men, one of them a babysitter, were handed life sentences after both of them confessed to their roles in producing and distributing child pornography involving a 2-year-old toddler.

According to a report by The Miami Herald, one of the men, Jason Barber, a 39-year-old man from Las Vegas, Nevada, was sentenced to 60 years in prison after he admitted to having sexually abused a 2-year-old toddler. According to the report, Barber took photos and videos of him indulging in the act with the two-year-old and sent over the images to the co-accused, a person identified as Benedict Shaw. The co-accused was also sentenced and was handed a 45-year prison term back in 2014.

Jason Barber had previously pleaded guilty to all the charges leveled against him by the prosecution – this included charges that accused him of producing and distributing child pornography. The co-accused in the case received the images and videos sent to him by Barber. According to the report, Barber had acted at the behest of Benedict who had asked him to abuse the toddler and send the images to him.

The sentence was pronounced by U.S. District Court Judge Robert N. Scola Jr. despite several pleas from the defense attorney Hugo Rodriguez to hand Barber a lenient sentence of 30 years. In the plea addressed to the court, the attorney claimed that Barber was “unstable and mentally infirmed.” He also claimed that Barber was very remorseful of his act. This is what attorney Rodriguez’s memorandum to the court read.

“Before the court is an extremely frail, unstable and mentally infirmed man who was dealt an awful deck of cards from the very beginning. Jason understands and knows what he did was wrong, for which he is very remorseful.”

The origin of the case dates back to 2013, when the South Florida Internet Crimes Against Children received two cyber tips that pointed towards child pornography images being traded between several email accounts. After tracking the IP addresses of the suspects, they were led to the home of Benedict Shaw located in Lauderhill, Florida. According to the investigators, Shaw met Barber, a resident of Las Vegas via an online chat room meant for people who had a diaper fetish. Shaw had at one point of time shipped Barber a package containing a cell phone, diapers, pacifiers and baby oil.

In one of his emails to Barber, Shaw reportedly wrote the following.

“Take pics and vids. This will make my night and my packages worthwhile. No one else will ever see it. I promise I never break my word.”

According to the investigators, Barber allegedly convinced the mother of the child to let him watch the girl while she was away at work. A press release issued by the U.S. Attorney’s Office added the following.

“Barber used the cell phone to record himself sexually abusing the child in his care. Barber then sent the video and several still images to Shaw via email.”

Barber was eventually arrested by police on Dec. 18, 2013. The arrest came after a man who bought an old mobile phone from Barber found child pornography on the device and handed it over to the police.

Shaw was sentenced to 45-years in prison back in 2014 in another state where he was also charged with assuming the identity of his dead brother. At his sentencing, the mother of the child confronted him.

“How dare you violate a child? How dare you do that to a child or anyone? I pray that you don’t feel what those children felt where you’re at.”

Shaw was also ordered to pay $100,000 in restitution to the victim in Nevada.

[Featured Image By Katya Shut/Shutterstock]