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Portsmouth man sentenced for distributing child porn, over 70 videos found on phone

Posted at 4:49 PM, Dec 07, 2016
and last updated 2016-12-07 16:49:48-05
Joseph Downing Barnes Jr.

Joseph Downing Barnes Jr.

PORTSMOUTH, Va. – The Department of Justice announced Wednesday that 26-year-old man has been sentenced to nine years in prison for the distribution of child pornography.

Joseph Downing Barnes Jr., of Portsmouth, was also sentenced to 25 years of supervised release.

Barnes pleaded guilty on August 31 and according to court documents he was arrested on August 3, for trading child pornography on the internet.

In October 2015, Justin Clark was arrested for trading child pornography using the KIK application on his phone.

The forensic examination of Clark’s cell phone revealed he regularly traded child pornography with others using KIK, including Barnes.

During the investigation of Barnes, his phone was seized and revealed 74 videos and four images of child pornography.

In addition to the phone and the email account, his other online accounts contained images of child pornography.

Clark was sentenced separately to six years in prison.