Man sentenced to 200 years in prison for sexually assaulting three children

According to an announcement on Tuesday by the 18th Judicial District Attorney’s Office, a man was just sentenced to 200 years in prison for sexually assaulting three children over the course of four years.

The district attorney’s office noted that on August 26, 2018, an Aurora father told police that his son was sexually assaulted by his adult cousin, 35-year-old Brian Eugene Barcelona. 

Following that allegation, authorities began an investigation and found that between 2015 and 2018, Barcelona had repeatedly sexually assaulted the child as well as his two siblings who ranged in age from 10-years-old to 13. When Barcelona was arrested, photographs detailing the sexual abuse were found on his cellphone, as reported by the district attorney’s office. 

Although he pleaded not guilty when his trial began on October 25, 2021, he was found guilty of 12 counts of sexual assault of a child by one in a position of trust as well as four counts of sexual exploitation of a child. The trial lasted just seven days.

“In all my years of prosecuting these types of cases, I struggle to recall another one involving such severe abuse or brazen conduct,” said Senior Deputy District Attorney Danielle Jaramillo. 

She continued, “The defendant felt so secure in his ability to exploit his position of trust to silence these children that he actually kept photographs as trophies.”

Judge Joseph Whitfield was the one to sentence Barcelona to 200 years in prison.

“This predator selfishly sacrificed the well-being of his own relatives to satisfy his depraved desires,” commented District Attorney John Kellner. “I am grateful for the bravery of these young victims who came forward to put a stop to his destrictive manipulation.”