Missouri Sex Offender Pleads Guilty to Child Pornography and Registry Charges
Michael E. Barton admitted to possession of child pornography and failure to update his sex offender registry after being caught with two children in a state park.
2 reports on this incident · first at Aug 21, 2026, 11:49 a.m. ET
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Aug 21, 2026, 11:49 a.m. ETFirst report
Missouri Sex Offender Pleads Guilty to Child Pornography and Registry Charges
ST. LOUIS – A registered sex offender pleaded guilty on Thursday, August 20, 2026, in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to one count of possession of child pornography and one count of failure to update the sex offender registry, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Missouri.
Michael E. Barton, 46, of Washington County, admitted in his plea agreement that on Nov. 12, 2023, a Missouri State Park Ranger spotted him in Elephant Rocks State Park. The ranger ran Barton's license plate and learned he was a sex offender prohibited from being within 500 feet of a park with a playground. During a traffic stop, the ranger found two boys, ages 8 and 12, who were not related to Barton.
According to the plea agreement, Barton provided the passcode to one of his cellphones, leading to the discovery of an unregistered YouTube account and photos of the older boy shirtless. The ranger also found photos of a second phone showing SnapChat conversations with the older boy that included adult pornography. When confronted, Barton ran for his vehicle and grabbed the older boy's arm but was subdued with a Taser and handcuffed. A search of Barton's second phone, with his consent, uncovered photos and videos of the older boy, including videos taken with a hidden camera in his home.
Barton is scheduled to be sentenced on November 18. The possession charge carries a penalty of 10 to 20 years in prison, and the failure to register charge carries up to 10 years. The case was investigated by Missouri State Park Rangers and the Missouri State Highway Patrol, and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Hayes. It was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a Department of Justice initiative launched in May 2006 to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse.
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- Version 121 Aug 2026, 15:52current
First published.
- Version 121 Aug 2026, 15:49current
First published.
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