A Bucks County, Pennsylvania resident who is a registered sex offender has been accused of engaging in the sexual exploitation and online enticement of a minor.

A man from Morrisville, Pennsylvania, named Gregory J. Barger, appeared in court on charges related to child sexual abuse, as announced by U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger. Barger, 38, was indicted on February 15, 2024, for producing videos and images depicting child sexual abuse and coercing and enticing a minor to engage in criminal sexual conduct. He was charged with one count of sexual exploitation of a child - production of child pornography - and one count of coercion and enticement - online enticement of a minor. Barger had previously been charged through a criminal complaint for the production offense. On February 28, 2024, he was arraigned before U.S. District Judge Michael A. Shipp in Trenton federal court and is currently being detained until trial.

According to court documents and statements made in court, Barger, a registered sex offender with a prior conviction, used an electronic messaging application to communicate with a minor victim in the United Kingdom from August 5, 2020, to April 7, 2022. During this time, he induced, enticed, and coerced the minor victim to engage in sexual conduct with him. In February 2022, Barger traveled to the United Kingdom and produced images and videos of himself engaged in sexual conduct with the minor victim. Law enforcement later discovered these explicit materials on Barger's seized cellular phone, which was taken from him during his arrest on April 7, 2022, in Hamilton, New Jersey.

Due to Barger's prior conviction, the charge of production of child pornography carries a mandatory minimum penalty of 25 years in prison and a maximum potential penalty of 50 years in prison, along with a $250,000 fine. The charge of online enticement of a minor carries a mandatory minimum penalty of 10 years in prison and a maximum potential penalty of life in prison, as well as a $250,000 fine.

Special agents of Homeland Security Investigations Newark, led by Acting Special Agent in Charge Michael Alfonso, and members of the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office, under the guidance of Prosecutor Angelo J. Onofri, were acknowledged by U.S. Attorney Sellinger for their work on the investigation that resulted in the charges.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexander E. Ramey from the U.S. Attorney’s Office Criminal Division in Trenton is representing the government in this case.

It is important to note that the indictment's charges and allegations are just accusations, and the defendant is considered innocent unless proven guilty.