A South Bend Police Department officer will serve no prison time after pleading guilty to one felony count of child seduction and one count of official misconduct this July as part of a deal with prosecutors.
Timothy Barber was arrested in October 2021 and charged with six felonies, including two counts of child seduction, after a 16-year-old girl told investigators that they had multiple sexual encounters.
According to court documents, Barber met the 16-year-old at her workplace in July 2021 and asked for her phone number in uniform. He allegedly had sex with her two times in his squad car while in uniform, and also allegedly exposed himself to the girl two times while she was at work.
The girl’s parents later found communications with Barber on her phone and contacted police. When interviewed, she told police that she felt Barber was “obsessed” with her and felt pressure to have sex with him because he was a police officer.
She also told police that when she discussed her age with Barber, he allegedly said he looked it up “in the books” and discovered there was nothing wrong with him having sex with a 16-year-old.
The plea agreement capped any sentence at four years. In exchange for Barber admitting guilt, the other four charges were dropped. A July press release from the prosecutor’s office said it was developed in consultation with the victim and her family and eliminated the need for the victim to testify.
The South Bend Tribune reports both the victim and the state asked for Barber to receive the maximum sentence of four years during his hearing Friday, while Barber’s lawyers for of probation.
Even though St. Joseph Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Sanford called Barber’s conduct “outrageous,” he said he could not be “vindictive” in his sentencing and that Barber would likely not be rehabilitated if sent to prison.
Instead, Sanford sentenced Barber to four years probation. He must also register as a sex offender for 10 years.
It’s likely Barber will now lose his job — in an October Facebook post just after he was arrested, SBPD Chief Scott Ruszkowski said Barber would be fired if found guilty. He’s been on administrative leave without pay since October.
According to an old post on the SBPD's Twitter, Barber graduated from the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy in May 2019 and was sworn into the department the next month.
Contact Jakob at jlazzaro@wvpe.org or follow him on Twitter at @JakobLazzaro.
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