Skip to main content
Partly Cloudy icon
56º

Man walks into sheriff’s office, confesses to repeatedly raping 14-year-old girl, deputies say

Booking photo of James Barton (Provided by Baker County Sheriff's Office)

A Lake City man is facing a child sex charge after he walked into the Baker County Sheriff’s Office on Monday and confessed to having sex with a 14-year-old multiple times when he lived in Sanderson last year, deputies said.

According to the Sheriff’s Office, James Barton, 25, came into the front lobby and said he had been having “an inappropriate relationship” with a girl.

Recommended Videos



Barton admitted to the detectives who questioned him that he’d had sex with a 14-year-old girl on numerous occasions last year, according to deputies.

Investigators said when they spoke to the teen, she confirmed to detectives that Barton had raped her more than 10 times.

Barton was arrested and charged with lewd or lascivious battery on a victim between the ages of 12 and 16.

Investigators did not say what had prompted Barton to come into the Sheriff’s Office.