A Bullhead City man faces at least a century-long prison sentence following convictions at the first of his two sex offense trials. A Mohave County Superior Court jury deliberated 20 minutes Wednesday, April 4, before finding Michael Barrett, 42, guilty on all ten counts of sexual exploitation of a minor.
Law requires imposition of consecutive prison terms of at least ten years for each conviction at sentencing scheduled May 8.
Prosecutor Jacob Cote told jurors that Mohave County Sheriff’s office detectives found 47 images of screen shots of child pornography downloaded from websites on Barrett’s cell phone in October, 2017. He said that Barrett’s admissions and the images in his phone represent “cold, hard, unpleasant and downright disgusting evidence and facts.”
Defense attorney Robin Puchek told jurors they should discount the alleged admissions because they were coerced under false promises by detectives. He also argued that the state failed to prove that Barrett downloaded the images and knowingly possessed them in his phone.
Barrett faces an upcoming trial in another case in which he is charged with three counts of child molestation and two counts of sexual conduct with a minor. The charges are for Barrett’s involvement in alleged touching activity with three young girls under the age of ten.
A status hearing for the second case is scheduled April 15.
