Adam Anthony Barnaba
(PCSD file photo)
By Patti Weaver
(Stillwater, Okla.) — A 50-year-old Stillwater man has been jailed on $100,000 bail pending a Feb. 15 court appearance on charges of sexually abusing and exploiting a juvenile by recording on his phone acts constituting child pornography.
Adam Anthony Barnaba could be given two life prison terms if convicted of the two-count felony charge filed by Payne County Assistant District Attorney Erica Garuccio last week.
Barnaba was arrested on Jan. 27 after the alleged victim, who is under the age of 18 and related to the defendant, was forensically interviewed at the Saville Center, according to an affidavit by Stillwater Police Detective Mary Kellison.
The youth disclosed that Barnaba said, “This is their little secret, and if (the youth) told anyone, he (Barnaba) would knock (the youth) unconscious,” the affidavit alleged. The youth felt “really scared,” the affidavit alleged.
An investigation began after the youth disclosed to a therapist “incidents of ongoing sexual abuse,” by Adam Barnaba, the affidavit alleged.
During an interview on Jan. 27 by Stillwater police, “Adam advised me this is the only time he has done something like this. Adam acknowledged that he knew that it was against the law to perform sexual acts with a child,” Detective Kellison alleged in her affidavit.
“Detective Johnson asked Adam if the video he took of (the minor performing a sexual act) was saved to his phone, and he replied, ‘It is just on the phone in a folder that is password protected.
“Adam gave me the password and told me it was the password to the secure folder in which he had placed the video on his cell phone,” Detective Kellison alleged in her affidavit.
