This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
A Price man linked to the sexual abuse of several children resolved his criminal case Thursday.
Tyler James Barney, 26, was originally charged with two counts of sexual abuse of a child, a second-degree felony, and was scheduled to go to trial on Thursday.
Barney instead accepted a plea deal, pleading no contest to two counts of sexual battery, a class A misdemeanor.
In court records, Barney admits that he touched the buttocks and breast of a female child between June and December last year.
Barney is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 18.
He was one of three people who were charged last year in connection with the sexual abuse of at least six children, from toddlers to teens, over a three-year period.
Earlier this year, Timothy Lee Romano, 26, pleaded no contest in 7th District Court to two charges of third-degree felony attempted sexual abuse of a child, and was sentenced to spend up to five years in the Utah State Prison for each charge, but a judge ordered the sentences to run concurrently.
Also, Romano's wife, 27-year-old Amanda Nicole Romano, pleaded no contest to three counts of aggravated sexual abuse of a child, and also pleaded guilty to class A misdemeanor child abuse. She was sentenced to spend 10 years to life in prison on each sexual abuse count, but a judge ruled the sentences could run concurrent. Amanda Romano was also sentenced to spend up to one year in jail on the child abuse charged, but 7th District Judge Douglas Thomas ruled that time could be served at the prison, also concurrent to the other sentences.
Twitter: @jm_miller