Dance production man caught video recording underaged girls

Orange County District Attorney Press Release

For Immediate Release, Case # TBA: June 3, 2014

OCDA AND CPD SEEK POTENTIAL ADDITIONAL VICTIMS OF DANCE PRODUCTION COMPANY EMPLOYEE CHARGED WITH RECORDING VIDEOS OF UNDERAGE GIRLS AND POSSESSING OVER 1,000 CHILD PORNOGRAPHY IMAGES

WESTMINSTER – The Orange County District Attorney’s Office and the Cypress Police Department (CPD) are seeking potential additional victims of a dance production company employee charged with video recording underage girls in a dressing room and possessing over 1,000 images of child pornography. Paul Michael Barbour, 33, Long Beach, is charged with one felony count each of possession and control of child pornography, possession for sale of a controlled substance, possession of a controlled substance, cultivating spores with the intent to produce a controlled substance, one misdemeanor count of disorderly conduct and a sentencing enhancement allegation for possessing more than 600 child pornography images with more than 10 images of a minor under the age of 12. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of seven years in state prison and six months in jail. He is scheduled to be arraigned this afternoon in Department W-2, West Justice Center, Westminster. The time is to be determined.

At the time of the crime, Barbour was an assistant director and a master of ceremonies (MC) of a dance production company in Cypress.

On May 31, 2014, Barbour is accused of being the MC for a dance competition being held at Cypress College. Prior to the beginning of the event, Barbour is accused of placing a hidden video camera inside a changing room on campus and recording girls, between the ages 12 and 15 years old, who were preparing to compete. The video camera was found by a mother of one of the dance competitors and reported it to CPD, who investigated this case.

On June 1, 2014, the defendant is accused of possessing over 1,000 images of child pornography, both pictures and videos, on his computer which was located at his home. The pictures and videos were not related to the girls from the dance production company. He is also accused of possessing approximately 22 pounds of controlled substances including psilocybin mushrooms, lysergic acid diethylamide, and dimethyltryptamine which are hallucinogens. The defendant is accused of cultivating and growing the mushrooms as a drug with the intent to sell.

The investigation is ongoing. Anyone with additional information or who believes they have been a victim is encouraged to contact CPD Criminal Investigative Bureau at (714) 229-6631 or Supervising District Attorney Investigator Paul Carvo at (714) 347-8794.

Deputy District Attorney Bobby Taghavi of the Sexual Assault Unit is prosecuting this case.

###