Man accused of taping girls in changing room to enter child-porn plea
A Long Beach man who worked for a youth dance production company is expected to plead guilty in federal court Tuesday to possessing thousands of photos and videos of child pornography, some of which he allegedly took on the job.
Paul Michael Barbour, 33, is expected to be sentenced to between five and 10 years in federal prison and 15 years of probation as part of a plea agreement with federal prosecutors that he signed July 25.
According to the criminal complaint and plea agreement, Barbour confessed to keeping a cache of images and videos of child porn after police confronted him about allegedly placing a camera in the girls’ changing room at Cypress College before the young dancers took the stage.
A person found the camera inside the changing room and handed it over to authorities, according to court documents.
A subsequent search of his home turned up “several thousand” images and 10 videos of child pornography, along with a stash of LSD and hallucinogenic mushrooms, court documents allege.
According to the criminal complaint, when asked whether he had viewed child pornography, Barbour replied, “I have a mental affliction, as one would say. It’s not a good thing, and I don’t know how to rid myself of it.”
Barbour is scheduled to formally enter his plea Tuesday afternoon.
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