REDDING, Calif. – A Shasta County child sexual predator has a parole hearing on Friday, but the district attorney is trying to stop him from being freed.
Robert Barber, 86, could be released under California’s Elder Parole Program. In April, Action News Now reported that the California Board of Parole Hearings denied his early release.
Barber was convicted on 32 counts of child molestation and originally sentenced to 73 years in prison. The sentence was later adjusted to more than 50 years. Before his arrest, Barber had fled in the 1990’s when one of the victims spoke out.
He was captured in Mexico after being featured on the show “America’s Most Wanted.” Before his parole hearing in April, the Shasta County District Attorney asked for letters opposing his release and received more than 50.
Those letters were resubmitted ahead of the hearing. The district attorney also says one of the surviving victims will speak at the hearing on Friday at 8:30 a.m.
