Lubbock judge hands down 60-year prison sentence in child sex assault case
A Lubbock District judge handed down a 60-year prison sentence on Dec. 20 to a 33-year-old man who admitted to sexually abusing an 8-year-old family member for months beginning in December 2019.
Derrick Barry stood in stunned silence in the 140th District Court after District Judge Douglas Freitag announced the sentence. It ended a two-day bench trial about seven months after Barry pleaded guilty to a three-count indictment charging him with aggravated sexual assault of a child, a first-degree felony that carries a punishment of five years to life in prison, indecency with a child by sexual contact and indecency with a child by exposure.
Barry has been held at the Lubbock County Detention Center since his June 7, 2021 arrest.
The first offense is a first-degree felony that carries a punishment of five years to life in prison. The second offense is a second-degree felony that carries a punishment of two to 20 years in prison. The last offense is a third-degree felony that carries a punishment of two to 10 years in prison.
Freitag handed down a 50-year prison sentence on the first count and the maximum sentences on the remaining counts. He also ordered the 50-year and 10-year sentences to run consecutive, which essentially results in a 60-year sentence. That requires Barry to serve his 50-year and 20-year sentences first. Once he completes those sentences, or is allowed parole, he will then begin serving the 10-year sentence.
Barry entered what is known as an open plea in May, meaning he pleaded guilty to the court without a deal with the Lubbock County District Attorney's Office. Instead, he opted for Freitag to determine his punishment, which by law opens the possibility of a term of deferred adjudication, which is similar to probation.
Offenders on deferred adjudication are put on community supervision and are subject to court-ordered conditions, depending on the nature of the crime. In Barry's case, he would have likely been ordered to sex offender therapy and prohibited from being around children or live near places like schools or parks.
If he completed his term of community supervision, his case would be dismissed, but he would still have to register as a sex offender for life. If he violated his community supervision, he faced the entire range of punishment, which includes a life sentence. In Texas, the maximum sentence offenders on probation face if they violate their community supervision is 10 years.
Barry's defense attorney, Nick Olguin, asked the court for deferred adjudication to allow his client to prove that he could be rehabilitated and become a contributing member of society. He said prison would not give his client the therapy he needed to deal with the mental issues that led to his actions.
"I would prefer, to live in a community where we can get these individuals the help they need ... instead of putting them in prison and releasing them without therapy," he said in his closing argument.
Prosecutor Jessica Gorman asked the court for a significant sentence, saying deferred adjudication was inappropriate for Barry's actions. She said the evidence showed Barry was attracted to children and has preyed on them for years.
"He finds pleasure from robbing children of their innocence," she said in her closing argument. "It is one of the worst kinds of evil there is."
During the bench trial, Freitag heard from Barry's victim, who was 8 at the time she was abused, which started around Christmas in 2019.
"That's what she associates with Christmas," Gorman told the court.
The girl recounted being sexually assaulted by Barry for about five months. She said Barry also made her watch pornographic cartoons on her electronic devices and masturbated in front of her.
During that time, the girl told the court she would stay in her room and urinate in a bottle and sleep in her closet to hide from Barry.
The abuse came to light when the girl's mother found the pornographic content on the girl's phone and the girl revealed that Barry had been sexually abusing her for months.
The girl's mother told the court she still carries the guilt of introducing Barry into her daughter's life. The girl's brother also feels guilt for failing to protect his sister from Barry.
Meanwhile, Olguin, asked the court to consider the fact that his client immediately owned up to his actions when they were revealed.
"What he did was true," he said. "But he took responsibility at the outset. He knew the consequences (and) he has not run from the responsibility of what he did."
Ogluin asked the court to also consider the fact that his client had no criminal history before his arrest on this case.
Meanwhile, Barry's father told the court he would make sure his son obeyed any court-ordered condition of his supervised release.
Barry's father, Daryl who is a minster in Hobbs, New Mexico, asked the court to give his son a second chance, saying his son has taken responsibility for his actions and needs help which he believes he will not get in prison.
He described his son as an excellent student and a talented musician and athlete.
He said he has spoken to his son daily since his arrest and has noticed a change in him, saying he appears to be stronger spiritually.
Daryl Barry said he doesn't condone his son's actions but believes his contrition showed he deserved a chance at rehabilitation that only community supervision could provide.
"With proper help, I don't feel like he's a danger to children," he said.
However, Gorman said the evidence showed that Barry did have a second chance when it was revealed that when he was a 19-year-old college student in New Mexico, he had a sexual relationship with a 13-year-old girl who he met at church.
The woman, now in her 20s, told the court that when she turned 14, she became pregnant with Barry's child but miscarried.
Gorman said police were never called and Barry was never held to account for his actions in that case. Instead, the woman said she was shunned by her church and was blamed for what happened, which ruined her self-worth.
"He was already given a second chance when [the teen girl] was failed at every level," Gorman said. "As a result this defendant had an opportunity to re-offend."
Gorman said jail phone records show Barry spoke with his parents after the trial ended for the day on Monday and referenced the girl's testimony that day, saying she had her "20 minutes of fame."
Olguin said an evaluation of his client indicated that Barry had a minimal chance of reoffending. He said the lack of physical evidence against his client, specifically results from a sexual assault examination, should also be considered.
Investigators did find social media messages between Barry and the girl's mother in which he admitted to sexually abusing the girl.
However, Gorman argued that Barry's contrition didn't outweigh the damage he caused.
Gorman asked the court to hand down prison sentenced in each count and order them to be served consecutively.
"Or a sentence that is serious enough to punish him for his actions and ensure this defendant never again abuses another child," she said.
Olguin said he was disappointed in the court's ruling, saying it didn't fit the facts of the case.
"I'm not condoning what (Barry) did," he said. "I think what he did was awful. But I don't think you should throw people under the jail and forget about them. Especially whenever you got expert testimony telling you this guy is had a low risk of reoffending. Get the guy some help, let's get some therapy."
Gorman said after the trial that the Freitag's sentence was appropriate for the facts of the case and the victims were satisfied with Barry's punishment.
"The fact that this wasn't an isolated victim, that there were multiple victims, it just speaks, I think, volumes to the type of predator that he is," she said. "That he is a guy that preys on kids and you don't get to hurt kids and just go home (and) just be on probation."
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Man who sexually abused child for months sentenced to 60 years
