An Ashland man remains in federal custody this morning, after being charged in federal court with sexual exploitation of a child.
31-year-old Scott Alan Barker is charged with one count. He’s in the custody of the U.S. marshals at an undisclosed location pending tomorrow’s detention hearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Willie Epps in Jefferson City.
A graphic three-page affidavit from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security indicates the alleged victim is a one-year-old child. Court documents quote Barker as admitting to federal agents that he is the one depicted in screenshots of a child sex abuse video.
The Homeland Security Department is leading the Barker investigation. The affidavit from Homeland Security indicates federal agents and local police served a search warrant at Barker’s Ashland home on Monday. Federal agents photographed the home’s interior, according to court documents.
Barker is also quoted as telling federal agents that he doesn’t recall the incident and may have blocked it from his memory because he realized it was a mistake.
