OAKLAND — A Fremont man known as “Breaking News” was detained by police and FBI agents, who say they witnessed him attempting to recruit sex workers, including one who turned out to be 17 years old, court records show.
But now, 28-year-old Kevin Barnes Jr. is facing two criminal cases: a misdemeanor charge alleging he “contributed to the delinquency of a minor,” and a charge of violating his parole for a 2024 pimping conviction out of Stanislaus County. Barnes was released from jail while both cases are pending, records show.
The charges stem from a March 18 surveillance operation involving Oakland police and the FBI, who reportedly observed Barnes and another man talking to suspected sex workers — young ladies walking 14th Avenue and International Boulevard in scantily clad clothing. The men had their hands behind their back as they were talking, which investigators said in court filings was “behavior consistent” with attempting recruitment.
Police later contacted a 17-year-old girl who was among the group Barnes allegedly talked to, and she told a man known as “Breaking News” had approached her, authorities said. The girl reportedly denied having a pimp, telling police she protects herself by carrying weapons like a stun gun or a knife, and asks other sex workers what to charge. After the interview, police called her mother.
When they detained Barnes, he said that he had hoped to “smoke weed” and have sex with the woman, and offered her a ride to a Greyhound Bus station because she was having problems with another man. But Barnes said he believed the girl was 18 and wouldn’t have talked to her if he’d known she was younger, authorities said.
In 2022, Barnes was arrested on suspicion of pimping six women in Modesto, according to media reports. In 2024, he was sentenced to three years in state prison, with credit for time served. Last December, he was arrested on a gun charge in Los Angeles, but the case was dismissed due to lack of evidence, court records show.
Barnes then travelled to Fremont, ostensibly to work at an Oakley pool cover business, according to court documents in his parole case.
