Sex offender gets three years

By Linda Cicoira

A Richmond area horse-riding instructor and coach will serve three years for sex offenses that occurred at Cherrystone Campground and involved a 14-year-old girl who was a family friend and riding student.

Judge W. Revell Lewis III of Northampton Circuit Court sentenced 59-year-old John Fairly Barnett to five years with four suspended for taking indecent liberties, which is a felony. Barnett was given 12 months each for the misdemeanors of sexual abuse and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

The terms were set to run consecutively for a total of three years. The defendant was put on supervised probation for five years and good behavior for 10 years. Barnett was also ordered to take sex offender treatment. He was remanded to jail. A presentence report called for a year and eight months to four years and eight months with a midpoint at two years and 11 months. Defense lawyer Tucker Watson asked for the judge to consider three to six months since it was a first offense.

The girl, who is now 17 and a senior in high school, was vacationing with the man and his family in July 2020, when the incident occurred. It involved his going into the bathroom while the girl was taking a shower and hugging her. Barnett initially said he went in there because of a problem with the drain.

“I believe his reason … was probably a ruse,” said Judge Lewis. “He wanted to see her without her clothes on.”

The defendant is awaiting sentencing for committing an indecent act with the same child and general sexual battery in Chesterfield Circuit Court. He also pleaded guilty to those offenses, which occurred at the girl’s house.

The girl, her sister, and both her parents testified to the negative impacts the crimes had on them. The defendant was their friend for 10 years or more and was considered like a “father figure” to the girl. The victim said before she broke down and told her mother what had happened, Barnett made her feel like it was her fault.

The girl’s 20-year-old sister felt guilt for not knowing and protecting the victim. She was thinking positively on Monday. “I think that once this is done, we will be able to, as a family, put ourselves back together.”

Her mother said she was physically ill for weeks afterwards and didn’t want to cook in her kitchen where some of the crimes happened. “I was betrayed. My family was betrayed. I thought that he was a good friend,” the mother said.

“I had no reason not to trust him … until this occurred,” the girl’s father testified. Now, he said, “I can’t trust a best friend because I’m afraid somebody else is going to do something to my kids … It made me feel like a failure.”

Commonwealth’s Attorney Jack Thornton was opposed to any more delays in sentencing. He recounted how Barnett told an officer, “I’m a heterosexual man. I just like the way young girls look.”

Barnett read a prepared statement just before he was sentenced. In it he apologized for his actions. “No young girl should have to endure what she has. If I could turn the clock back in time and erase all the emotional pain and stress I caused I would. … I promise and guarantee none of these incidents will happen in the future.”