Man arrested in ‘grisly rape’ of 5-year-old girl whose injuries required surgery
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – A 28-year-old Alabama man faces multiple charges after he allegedly raped a 5-year-old girl, leaving her with injuries that required surgery, police said.
Steven Sarandon Barnes faces charges of first-degree rape, aggravated child abuse, chemical endangerment of a child and marijuana possession, according to the Montgomery Advertiser.
“I will say that this is one of the worst cases that I’ve seen in my 31 years in law enforcement,” Millbrook Police Chief PK Johnson told the paper in an email.
Police arrested Barnes over the weekend after the girl was admitted to Prattville Baptist Hospital’s emergency room Friday. Police say she was taken to Children’s Hospital in Birmingham for surgery, and, as of Saturday night, she was recovering and in stable condition.
Prosecutors say they want to see Barnes sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
“The defendant has four prior felony convictions, including a crime of violence,” Chief Assistant District Attorney C.J. Robinson told Judge Glenn Goggans. “The defendant is a known drug user. Judge, this was a grisly rape, sexual assault of a 5-year-old child.”
Goggans ordered Barnes to be held on a total bond of $10,010,000. The judge reportedly said that he “would grant no bond in the case if I could.”
Chief Johnson added that investigators will do “everything we can to see justice is served for this little girl.”