Robert Dale Barkman, 66, of Atlanta, Texas was arrested Fridaqy on fifteen felony level offenses relating to child pornography. Barkman was indicted by the Grand Jury on Wednesday, July 31 for five counts of Promotion of Child Pornography (Second Degree Felony offenses), three counts of Attempted Promotion of Child Pornography (Third Degree Felony offenses), five counts of Possession of Child Pornography (Third Degree Felony offenses), and two counts of Tampering with Evidence (Third Degree Felony offenses).
The investigation, which was led by the Cass County Criminal District Attorney’s Office, began early in June when suspicious images were located on his work computer at a local church where he served as the youth leader and secretary. The images were inappropriate images of members of his youth group. The computer was taken to the Cass County Criminal District Attorney’s Office Cyber Crime Lab for processing which yielded hundreds of images of child pornography which Barkman had created himself. The discovery of these images resulted in a search warrant being issued for Barkman’s home where additional computers and electronic devices were recovered by police. The search warrant was executed by the District Attorney’s Office with assistance from the Cass County Sheriff’s Department, the Texas Department of Public Safety Highway Patrol Division, and the Atlanta Police Department. Upon forensic examination by the District Attorney’s Cyber Crime Lab, hundreds more images of child pornography were located. According to Investigators, it appeared that Barkman has been creating and holding child pornography since the early 2000’s. Barkman is believed to have deleted images and disposed of recording devices prior to Investigators running the search warrant, while knowing that the investigation was ongoing. This resulted in the Tampering with Evidence charges.
Barkman is a long term resident of Cass County and is a retired teacher who taught at the Atlanta Middle School from 1977 through 2005. Barkman’s bail was assessed by the 5th Judicial District Judge Bill Miller who set his total bail amount at $1,025,000.00. Special conditions of his bond include wearing a GPS leg monitor, no contact with any children under 18 years of age, and being restricted to Cass and Bowie Counties in Texas.
