JACKSON, MI (WTVB) – Former Hillsdale County Sheriff’s Deputy Todd Barkley was given his sentence on Wednesday in Jackson County after he entered a guilty plea to a charge of misconduct in office.
The office for Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced that the 46-year-old Barkley was sentenced to three years’ probation.
A 90 day jail sentence was suspended and Barkley will be required to register as a Tier I Offender on the Michigan Sex Offender Registry for 15 years.
These requirements are in addition to the prohibition of him serving as a law enforcement officer in the future.
Authorities say Barkley arrested a woman on multiple occasions and then exploited his position with the Hillsdale County Sheriff’s Office to coerce her into a sexual relationship.
While off duty, Barkley drove to Fulton, Kentucky where the woman was being treated for substance abuse and used his badge to take the woman out of the facility for the day for the purposes of engaging in sex.
Barkley also engaged in sex with the woman in Michigan. He has since been fired from the Hillsdale County Sheriff’s Office.
Nessel says, “the sentencing of Mr. Barkley makes clear that we will not tolerate misconduct by the men and women who wear the badge and choose to violate their sworn oaths and the law.”
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