Auditor Trainee Pleads No Contest

An auditor trainee at the Ventura County assessor’s office has pleaded no contest to driving around east Ventura and exposing himself to several young children, prosecutors said Wednesday.

Terry Lee Barger, 38, entered his plea this week to 10 misdemeanor charges of annoying a child and indecent exposure. He faces one year in jail, mandatory counseling and having to register as a sex offender when he is sentenced Wednesday, Deputy Dist. Atty. Thomas Temple said.

Barger’s victims included girls between 10 and 14 and an 8-year-old boy, Temple said.

“All the victims were able to identify him with one or two exceptions,” Temple said.

In most cases, Barger would drive up in a car near children and begin masturbating in plain view, Temple said. On one occasion, he exposed himself while driving a county car that has a government seal displayed on the door.

The exposures occurred between February and August 1997, and in one case Barger flashed himself three times in the same day to the same three children, authorities said. In exchange for his plea, Barger avoids a jail term that could have topped three years, Temple said.

“It was his choice,” Louis Samonsky, Barger’s attorney, said of the plea.

Barger has resigned from his job, a position he began in March 1996, county Assessor Glenn Gray said Wednesday. He had been restricted to inter-office work last November when allegations surfaced, Gray said.