Cody Blake Barnes (Bowie County Jail).
A Texas man convicted on multiple counts of sexual and physical abuse against his own children received eight life sentences plus 352 years.
Cody Blake Barnes, 32, was found guilty by a jury on Dec. 6 of 33 felonies including continuous sex abuse of a child under 14, multiple counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child, and multiple counts of indecency with a child. He was charged alongside his wife Brittany Michelle Barnes, 32, who is awaiting her own trial. The children Barnes harmed were his own biological children and his wife’s children from a previous relationship.
The details revealed during the trial, which lasted one week, revealed a horrific living situation for all eight of the Barnes children, who ranged in age from infancy to eight years old. According to court reporting by Texarkana news website TXK Today, the family lived in a trailer that was overrun with bedbugs and lice. Several people who came into contact with the children, including school officials, notified Child Protective Services in instances dating back to 2016.
Court records also reportedly showed that the Barneses lost parental rights to their own children. When the children were removed from their parents, they apparently disclosed that their parents were sexually abusing them. Cody Barnes was accused of making physical threats to the children if they told anyone about the abuse, including that he would kill them; Brittany Barnes allegedly knew about everything that was going on and told the children to remain silent.
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In addition to his hefty prison sentence, Cody Barnes was fined $330,000. He remains in Bowie County Jail until he is transferred to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
Brittany Barnes is expected to go on trial Dec. 17. She is charged with several counts of injury to a child and endangering a child.
