Former UNT Health Science Center Official Gets Probation After Accusation He Fondled Baby Sitter

A former official at the University of North Texas Health Science Center has been sentenced to probation after being accused of fondling a 15-year-old baby sitter in 2015.Stephen Don Barrett, 42, pleaded guilty last month to one count of attempted indecency with a child by sexual contact. He will serve four years of deferred-adjudication probation and will have to register as a sex offender for 10 years.Barrett was originally charged with indecency with a child by fondling after his arrest in October 2015. He was fired the day of his arrest as vice president of operations of the UNT Health Science Center.According to an arrest-warrant affidavit, Barrett asked the baby sitter "How adventurous are you?" while touching her inappropriately, and then kissed her on the neck in July 2015.The girl told Barrett to stop and had her mom pick her up from Barrett's Fort Worth home, the affidavit says. The mother didn't alert authorities for several months because she hoped Barrett would seek counseling.Barrett told a Child Protective Services official that he had been hung over and didn't remember his actions, according to the affidavit. He also said it was clear he had done "something outlandish."The girl told authorities that Barrett acted like "a boy who is trying to flirt with a girl."Prosecutors were happy with the outcome of the case."We always try to take into account the family's wishes when a young person is involved, as to whether a child will have to testify," Samantha Jordan, a spokeswoman for the Tarrant County district attorney's office, told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, adding that the plea agreement required Barrett to admit guilt.  Continue reading...