Cypress dance company employee charged with child pornography

CYPRESS, Calif. (KABC) -- A Cypress dance production company employee has been arrested on suspicion of videotaping underage girls in dressing rooms and possessing over 1,000 child pornography images.

Paul Michael Barbour, 33, of Long Beach allegedly placed a hidden video camera inside a changing room during a dance competition at Cypress College. That's how he allegedly recorded girls, between 12 and 15 years old, according to the Orange County District Attorney's Office and Cypress police.

The camera was later found by a mother of one of the dance competitors. She then reported it to Cypress police. Officials say Barbour was the alleged MC of the competition and an assistant director of a dance production company in Cypress at the time of the crime.

On Sunday, the defendant was found to be in possession of over 1,000 images and videos of child pornography on his computer. The pictures were not related to the girls from the Cypress dance company.

The suspect was also found to be in possessions of 22 pounds of hallucinogens. Investigators believe Barbour was cultivating the mushrooms to sell for profit.

Barbour was charged with one felony count each of possession and control of child pornography, possession for sale of a controlled substance, possession of a controlled substance, cultivating spores with the intent to produce a controlled substance and disorderly conduct.

He is also facing a sentencing enhancement allegation for possessing more than 600 child pornography images with more than 10 images of a minor under the age of 12.

If convicted, Barbour faces up to seven years in state prison and six months in jail.

The investigation is ongoing. Anyone with further information or who may have been victimized by Barbour was urged to contact the Cypress Police Department Criminal Investigative Bureau at (714) 229-6631 or Supervising District Attorney Investigator Paul Carvo at (714) 347-8794.