Oklahoma man sentenced to nearly 22 years for possessing and distributing child pornography

TULSA, Okla. — A Tulsa man was sentenced Monday to nearly 22 years in federal prison for possessing and distributing child pornography

This sentence was announced by Acting U.S. Attorney Loretta Radford for the Northern District of Oklahoma. This case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and the Tulsa Police Department.

Clint Tirone Barger pleaded guilty to a two-count Information on March 30, 2017.

According to court documents, from November 2016 to Feb. 2, 2017, Barger knowingly possessed and distributed images of children under the age of 14 engaging in sexually explicit conduct. Barger used social media and internet file-sharing programs to entice minors to send him images of the sexually explicit conduct. Barger then distributed the images to others.

In addition to serving 262 months in federal prison, Barger must also serve eight years of supervised release.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Clinton J. Johnson and Shannon Cozzoni, Northern District of Oklahoma, prosecuted this case.

This investigation was conducted under HSI’s Operation Predator, an international initiative to protect children from sexual predators. Since the launch of Operation Predator in 2003, HSI has arrested more than 16,000 individuals for crimes against children, including the production and distribution of online child pornography, traveling overseas for sex with minors, and sex trafficking of children. In fiscal year 2016, more than 2,600 child predators were arrested by HSI special agents under this initiative and more than 800 victims identified or rescued.

HSI encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free Tip Line at 1-866-DHS-2-ICE or by completing its online tip form. Both are staffed around the clock by investigators. From outside the U.S. and Canada, callers should dial 802-872-6199. Hearing impaired users can call TTY 802-872-6196.

Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, via its toll-free 24-hour hotline, 1-800-THE-LOST.

HSI is a founding member of the Virtual Global Taskforce, an international alliance of law enforcement agencies and private industry sector partners working together to prevent and deter online child sexual abuse.