Backpage ads for prostitution of children in Seattle continue to be linked in the case of Shacon Barbee who has been charged Friday on nine counts related to sex trafficking and other crimes:
- One count of leading organized crime
- Three counts of promoting commercial sexual abuse of a minor
- Two counts of promoting prostitution and tampering with a witness.
- Three counts of first-degree theft for allegedly falsifying details about his illegal income so he could collect more than $32,000 in disability payments from the state Department of Social and Health Services and the Social Security Administration after he reported that he was mentally ill.
In 2010, Barbee was arrested and charged with promoting commercial sexual abuse of a minor (sex trafficking). With a previous status as a Level 3 sex offender, police continued to investigate him. The result was the nine additional charges above.
Under Washington law, level 3 sex offenders
are considered to have a high risk to re-offend. They usually have one or more victims and may have committed prior crimes of violence. They may not know their victim(s). The crime may show a manifest cruelty to the victim(s) and these offenders usually deny or minimize the crime. These offenders commonly have clear indications of a personality disorder. (They are also required to register with the state sex offender reigstry.)
The girls and women who were allegedly under Barbee's control reported ads for sexual services with them had been placed on Backpage.com, and they brought in $1000 to $1500 per night. All money was turned over to Barbee, and the females were regularly beaten and intimidated.
The penalties for pimping minors and buying sex with minors were increased in June 2010. Previously, the sentence was about two years. Now, promoting the commercial sexual abuse of a minor is a Class A felony, with minimum imprisonment of seven years, on par with first-degree rape or first-degree assault.
Barbee was one of the first to be charged under the new law detailing higher penalties for child sex trafficking.
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