COLUMBUS, Ohio — A Texas man was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison this week for traveling to Ohio to sexually exploit a 15-year-old girl he met while playing Call of Duty online, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Ohio.
Harrison Michael Barton, 39, of North Detroit, Texas, received 360 months in prison from U.S. District Judge Edmund A. Sargus Jr. for sexual exploitation of a minor and attempted kidnapping of a minor, the office said.
Barton took a 31-hour Greyhound bus trip from Florida to Coshocton County in February 2025 to meet the teenager about a month after connecting with her online, according to the release. The victim picked him up in Newcomerstown, and Barton admitted to engaging in sexual conduct with her and taking sexually explicit photographs of her before the two headed to the airport, the release said.
Barton was arrested at John Glenn Columbus International Airport while attempting to fly to Florida with the victim, according to the release.
At the time of his arrest, Barton was wanted on an outstanding parole warrant out of Texas tied to a prior conviction for online solicitation of a minor, for which he had been sentenced to 10 years in prison, the release said. He pleaded guilty in February 2026 to sexual exploitation of a minor and attempted kidnapping of a minor.
“Barton was a registered sex offender who traveled the country to commit crimes against a minor he met online,” U.S. Attorney Dominick S. Gerace II said in a statement. “He is a predator, and his history makes clear that he poses a grave and ongoing threat. My Office will never stop pursuing those who prey on children. We will prosecute these cases to the fullest extent of the law and seek multi-decade sentences like the one Barton received today.”
The sentence was announced by Gerace; FBI Cincinnati Division Special Agent in Charge Jason Cromartie; Coshocton County Sheriff Christopher Walters; Newark Police Chief Erik McKee; and John Glenn Columbus International Airport Police Chief Ronald Gray. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Emily Czerniejewski and Jennifer M. Rausch prosecuted the case.
The case was brought under Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide Department of Justice initiative launched in 2006 to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse, according to the release.
The information contained in this story was obtained from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Ohio.
