A Gary man has been convicted on multiple felony charges in connection with a violent attack that took place last summer near one of the city’s most visited landmarks.
On Thursday, a Lake County jury found 69-year-old Oasia Barnes guilty on 17 felony counts, which include rape and sexual battery, according to court documents. Prosecutors said Barnes abducted a tourist — a father visiting from New York — and his 16-year-old daughter at gunpoint near Michael Jackson’s childhood home on Aug. 9.
While standing outside the home at 2300 Jackson St., the pair was approached by Barnes, who prosecutors said pressed a gun into the 16-year-old girl’s stomach and demanded cash. The father handed over nearly $300, officials said, after which Barnes stated he wanted the father to drive him somewhere. Barnes then said he wanted to have sex with the girl, officials said, and threatened to shoot the teen if her father did not comply.
Barnes forced both into their vehicle at gunpoint and ordered them to drive to an alley behind a vacant property. Once there, prosecutors said Barnes threatened the father and ordered him to stay inside the car while he took the girl into a wooded area nearby and assaulted her.
Police located them later that day in the 2200 block of Washington Street — about a half-mile from where the ordeal began — after receiving surveillance data and tips from nearby residents.
The teen stated she had been kidnapped, and Barnes was taken into custody. A black Taurus handgun was found on Barnes’ person. The father and daughter later identified Barnes as the individual involved.
The teen, now 17, told jurors during her testimony about her mind state during the ordeal.
“I was very scared. It was disgusting,” she said in court, the Post-Tribune reported.
“I’m telling [him] I can’t do this,” she told Deputy Prosecutor Tara Villarreal. “I have to go to school.”
In addition to the initial charges, prosecutors last month added sentencing enhancements for use of a firearm and Barnes’ record as a repeat sexual offender. The jury found him guilty on both enhancements.
When news of the crime near Gary’s largest tourist attraction broke, Mayor Eddie Melton said he was “devastated” by the “horrific” incident.
Lathaniel Staten, a neighbor who has lived on the block of the Jacksons’ house for 30 years, told Capital B Gary after the kidnapping occurred that he was shocked by the alleged crime.
“It’s a crazy feeling because nothing like that has happened in this area,” he said, adding that despite the constant stream of visitors — people come from all over the world — he never expected anything like this on his block.
Barnes could face up to 300 years in prison when he is sentenced on June 25.
