Man booked on 28 counts of child porn-related charges in Scottsboro, Ala.

Michael Dave Barnes
Michael Dave Barnes

A Scottsboro, Ala., man was jailed Tuesday on 28 counts of child porn-related charges after his Julie Drive home was searched.

Michael Dave Barnes, 58, was taken into custody after a search warrant was served Tuesday at his home, Scottsboro Police Department Lt. Erik Dohring said in a statement. Barnes was charged with 14 counts of possession of child pornography and 14 counts of production of pornography with minors, jail records show.

"It's an ongoing investigation," Dohring said today. "We have some other stuff we're looking at."

Barnes had no known prior criminal history and Dohring said he couldn't comment about any specifics of the case so early in the investigation.

Alabama property records show a property at 3011 Julie Drive is in Barnes' name.

But Dohring said "there's nothing to indicate that any of the victims are local."

Children depicted in materials like the ones that led to charges against Barnes can come from anywhere in the country or from other countries, the officer noted. Some images can be several years old, and the victims depicted in them could now be adults.

Some of the materials in the Scottsboro case might be passed on to federal or state agencies that have the capability to compare evidence with databases of known victims of child pornography.

Barnes' case and the number of counts are unusual for the small town, Dohring said.

"We've had similar cases but not with this many charges," he said. "And this is an ongoing investigation and there very well could be more charges."

Meanwhile, Barnes remains behind bars at the Jackson County Jail on a $280,000 bail bond, records show.

Contact staff writer Ben Benton at bbenton@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6569. Follow him on Twitter @BenBenton.

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