Charges: Windom man’s computer contained child pornography images, searches

A Windom man’s computer contained images of child pornography, and showed evidence of searches for the same, according to court documents filed in Cottonwood County Court last week.

William Robert Barlow Jr, 37, faces five counts of felony possession of pornographic work.

The criminal complaint says Windom investigators received information from the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension in August that Barlow had uploaded files containing child pornography to his Facebook messenger the previous month.

Barlow’s phone was seized as part of the investigation, according to the complaint. Detectives say the phone contained more than five images of pornographic works of minors. There were also “many searches” for child pornography that were made on the phone, says the complaint, along with numerous conversations regarding sex with minors between Barlow and others.

Barlow admitted to police he hard pornography on his cell phone, saying it as “just fantasy,” according to the complaint. He told investigators the videos he saw come up of children were pop-ups, and he got rid of his cell phone because of it.

Barlow is expected to make his first court appearance on January 12 in front of Judge Christina M. Wietzema.