Attorney General Bill McCollum News Release
July 18, 2008
Media Contact: Jenn Meale
Phone: (850) 245-0150
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Oviedo Man Gets 2 Years for Traveling to Meet "Child" for Sex

~ Man was arrested last July during undercover internet operation in Polk County ~


TALLAHASSEE, FL - Attorney General Bill McCollum today announced that a Seminole County man has been sentenced to just over two years in prison for traveling to meet someone he thought was a child, intending to have sex with that child. Sasha Barber was arrested during a July 2007 undercover internet operation in Polk County and pleaded guilty today to using a computer to seduce a child and attempted use of a computer for child exploitation. Barber was prosecuted by the Attorney General’s Office of Statewide Prosecution and must register with the state as a sex offender after he is released from prison.

The undercover operation, led by Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd's office, netted the arrests of 25 individuals who, over the course of only four days, traveled to Polk County believing they were meeting a child for sex. Undercover detectives used chat rooms and instant messaging to direct suspects to the location. Barber, 25, was arrested after he traveled from his home in Oviedo intending to meet a 14-year old girl and have sex with her.

The two-week-long operation, dubbed “Operation Guardian,” included detectives, officers and special agents from the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE), Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Plant City Police Department, all working in conjunction with members of the State Attorney’s Office and the Office of Statewide Prosecution. The sentence was handed down by Circuit Judge Donald G. Jacobsen of the 10th Judicial Circuit.

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