Casper Man Accused Of Sexually Abusing 6-Year-Old

A Casper man is accused of sexually abusing a girl while she was 6-years-old and he was 19.

Austin Leroy Barba is charged with a count each of first-degree and third-degree sexual abuse of a minor. First-degree sexual abuse of a minor is punishable by up to 50 years behind bars.

The charges were bound over from Natrona County Circuit Court to Natrona County District Court last week.

According to an affidavit of probable cause, a girl disclosed to family that Barba had sexually abused her. The girl's family members told police they thought the event would have occurred between late September and early October of 2016. Barba was allowed to stay at the girl's home for a few days while his family was gone.

The affidavit states that the girl told a Children's Advocacy Project interviewer that Barba (also a relative) had "done a lot of bad stuff" to her, including touching her private areas.

When a detective interviewed Barba about the incident, he never denied it, the affidavit states. Barba allegedly told the detective that he'd been known to sleepwalk.

According to the affidavit, Barba placed himself under similar circumstances as to the events the girl reportedly described to investigators.

The detective gave Barba a piece of paper on which to write a message to the girl and then left the room. In the letter to the girl, Barba allegedly wrote that he didn't remember doing anything and he would never do anything like what he was accused of.