COLUMBUS, Ohio (AVC News) – A Texas man has been sentenced to 30 years in federal prison for sexually exploiting a 15-year-old girl in Coshocton County after meeting her online while playing Call of Duty.
Harrison Michael Barton, 39, of North Detroit, Texas, traveled by Greyhound bus from Florida to Ohio in February 2025, making a 31-hour trip to meet the teenager. Barton was arrested at John Glenn Columbus International Airport while attempting to fly back to Florida with the girl.
According to federal prosecutors, Barton admitted to engaging in sexual conduct with the minor and taking sexually explicit photographs of her. The teenager had picked him up in Newcomerstown before the two traveled to the airport. At the time of his arrest, Barton also had an outstanding parole warrant in Texas related to a previous conviction for online solicitation of a minor, for which he had received a 10-year prison sentence.
Barton pleaded guilty in February 2026 to sexual exploitation of a minor and attempted kidnapping of a minor. U.S. District Judge Edmund A. Sargus Jr. sentenced him to 360 months in prison. The case was investigated by the FBI, Coshocton County Sheriff’s Office, Newark Police Department and John Glenn Columbus International Airport Police as part of the Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood initiative.
