BEAUMONT, TX — An East Texas man pleaded guilty Friday to federal child exploitation violations, which included repeated interest in raping, killing and cannibalizing a 13-year-old girl as part of an undercover sting operation.
This guilty plea was announced by U.S. Attorney Joseph Brown, Eastern District of Texas. This case was investigated by the following agencies: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in Lufkin, Beaumont and Houston, Texas; HSI’s Child Exploitation Task Force in Cocoa Beach, Florida; Brevard County (Florida) Sheriff’s Office; Nacogdoches (Texas) Police Department; Texas Department of Public Safety; U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) Air and Marine Operations; and Shelby County (Texas) Sheriff’s Office.
Alexander Nathan Barter, 23, from Joaquin, Texas, entered a guilty plea Dec.20 before U.S, Magistrate Judge Keith Giblin.
According to court documents, as part of Barter’s plea agreement, in October 2018, Barter posted an ad on a dark web site stating: “I’d like to try necrophilia and cannibalism and see how it feels to take a life. If you’d be willing to let me kill you, are in the US (preferably in the south) and can travel by car, contact me.”
An undercover officer saw the ad and responded, utilizing the persona of a father with a 13-year old daughter. Between Oct. 9 and Oct. 19, 2018, Barter and the undercover officer exchanged a series of messages that included Barter’s repeated interest in raping, killing and eating the 13-year old child. Barter provided the undercover with instructions on traveling from Florida to Shelby County, Texas, what to tell the child to get her acquiescence to travel, and how to conceal evidence of their crime. On Oct. 19, 2018, Barter arrived at the designated meet site in Joaquin, Texas, with a knife, trash bag, cellphone, and a tablet.
“These are the cases that remind us that evil is real,” said U.S. Attorney Joseph D. Brown. “It also reminds us that we are fortunate that we have law enforcement working to stop these things.”
Barter entered into a plea agreement with the government that includes a sentence of 240 months imprisonment on each count. Each party has reserved the right to argue that the sentences should run concurrent or consecutive. Accordingly, Barter will face a minimum term of 20 years in federal prison and a maximum sentence of 40 years when he is sentenced. A sentencing date has not yet been set and the actual sentence will be determined by a federal judge at sentencing.
Now…Wait just a cotton pickin’ minute….is this on the level?