GUILTY PA - Johnnie Barto, a sexual predator pediatrician, gets up to 158 years in prison 18 March 2019

[BayouBelle_LA]

Predator pediatrician who abused town's children for decades gets 158 years in prison

Dr. Johnnie “Jack” Barto, 71, was hit with a sentence of 79 to 158 years in prison, virtually guaranteeing that he will die behind bars, Attorney General Josh Shapiro said.

Shapiro called the disgraced doctor a “serial predator,” saying Barto preyed on children “to feed his own sick desires.”

“He held himself out as a pillar in his community — a family pediatrician, an elected member of the school board, a regular attendee at church,” Shapiro said. “My office unraveled Barto’s web of lies, deceit and assault of children, and today he’s been held accountable for his crimes.”

 

[BayouBelle_LA]

According to the Associated Press, 19 people gave victim impact statements at his sentencing hearing on Monday, describing how he destroyed their lives, caused them to feel hopelessness and made them fear doctors. His wife, Linda Barto, who was among them, said he "spent his whole sinister life lying and sneaking around so he could carry on his abuse uninterrupted."

According to prosecutors, Barto abused both boys and girls over several decades in his examination room in Cambia County, Pennsylvania and at local hospitals, with his victims usually ranging between ages 8 and 12. One victim was only two weeks old at the time of the assault and some victims included members of his own family.

Pennsylvania pediatrician sentenced to 79 years in prison for molesting children