Mt. Juliet, TN man sentenced to 60 years in prison for raping and abusing three children

MT. JULIET, Tenn. (WKRN) – A Wilson County man will spend the rest of his life in prison for sex crimes against three different children.

On Friday, May 10, Judge Brody Kane sentenced 50-year-old Pedro Barrera to 60 years in prison, to be served 100%, with no right to parole. He was also placed on the sex offenders’ register as a sex offender and sentenced to lifelong community supervision.

A Wilson County jury found Barrera guilty of 10 counts related to child sexual abuse after a four-day trial that began Feb. 1. Those charges included three counts of rape of a child, six counts of aggravated sexual battery and one count of continuous sexual molestation sexual abuse of a child.

The final charge occurs when a person commits multiple violent sexual offenses against three or more victims. Officials said Barrera’s victims were between 7 and 9 years old when the abuse began in 2017.

He continued to sexually abuse the children for almost three years. During their investigation, authorities discovered the abuse had taken place at two separate homes in Mt Juliet. Barrera was reportedly living in the apartments at the time of the attacks.

Initially the police only knew of one victim, but during their investigation they discovered two more. After the investigation was completed, Barrera was arrested and has been in custody ever since.

All three victims — none of whom were related to Barrera — testified at the trial in February.

“This conviction ensures that Pedro Barrera will never be released to harm another person,” said District Attorney Jason Lawson. “I am grateful for the attention to detail Judge Kane demonstrated in rendering the sentence. I hope today’s sentencing will bring some measure of peace to the victims and their families in this case.”