A Montgomery County man pleaded guilty Tuesday to various child sex abuse charges putting a surprising end to his trial on charges that he drugged and raped three young girls and posted images of the acts on the Internet.
Barry McOwen, 67, of Clemmers Mill Road in Schwenksville, was charged with 651 total counts including multiple rape, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, sexual abuse of children, endangering the welfare of children, aggravated indecent assault, corruption of minors, invasion of privacy and drug violation charges.
He wound up taking the stand in court Tuesday -- the second day of the trial -- to plead guilty to some of those charges including one count of child rape, three counts of indecent assault, four counts of creating child pornography and one count of dissemination of child porn, McOwen's lawyer George Yacoubian Jr. told NBC10.
The charges add up to 50 1/2 to 100 years in prison, Yacoubian said.
His lawyer says that McOwen pleaded guilty to spare himself even harsher punishment while also sparing family members from having to testify in the trial, Yacoubian said.
When McOwen was arrested about a year ago, authorities said that he used both allergy and prescription medications, which he referred to as his “special juice” to drug the girls, which were left in his care, before he sexually assaulted them.
"All the times I loved touching her and fondling her and the best part is she has no clue," McOwen allegedly said in one particular chat, according to a criminal complaint obtained by NBC10.
All of the victims were between six and 10 years old.
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According to investigators, McOwen took pictures and videos of the incidents and shared them with others over the Internet. He often used Internet chat to share his horrific acts. The criminal complaint mentions one chat obtained by authorities in which McOwen allegedly told someone else, “I want to rape any pre-teen so bad.”
McOwen also referred to his “sleep assaults” many times, in many online conversations.
Investigators say the assaults took place over the course of five years -- between January 2006 and June 2011.
The investigation into McOwen began when authorities were made aware of child porn trading between McOwen and another individual, thanks to investigation in Washington state. McOwen was arrested in mid-June 2011.
