Gary man on trial for kidnapping, assaulting teen from Michael Jackson home

Chicago Tribune

06-05-2025

Within two minutes, a woman called 911 reporting a man was 'pointing a gun' at tourists outside the Michael Jackson Childhood Home in Gary.
The property — at 2300 Jackson Street — for years has been one of the city's most popular tourist attractions.
That day, Deputy Prosecutors Tara Villarreal and Chris Bruno allege Oasia Barnes used it to target an unsuspecting local man and his 16-year-old daughter.
Is anyone in danger, the dispatcher asks.
'The girl,' the woman responds.
Barnes, 69, of Gary, was charged in August with several felonies, including Level 1 felony rape.
Prosecutors added gun, habitual offender and repeat sexual offender enhancements, which would add additional time if convicted.
Defense lawyer Robert Varga said Monday the evidence — including police statements, identification, hospital records, and DNA — didn't conclusively match up.
The victim's father told Gary Police Detective Olivia Vasquez he was snapping pictures at the tourist attraction in the city's Midtown section on Aug. 9, when Barnes walked up and stuck a handgun toward his daughter's ribs demanding money.
The man gave him about $300.
When Barnes told him he needed a ride, the father said he could take their vehicle. Barnes said he wanted to have sex with the 'pretty' girl, according to the affidavit. He threatened to kill her if they didn't get in the car.
In the car, Barnes repeatedly threatened to shoot them both. He directed the man to an alley behind an abandoned home. At first, he said he wanted to watch the girl 'do sex things' to her father, and threatened to kill the man if she didn't. The father told him she didn't want to do it.
Barnes got out of the car with the girl.
The father said he thought about running over Barnes, but didn't want to hit the girl. The man ran to Maryland Street and called 911.
Police later found the 16-year-old girl sitting with Barnes on a basement stairwell on the 2200 block of Washington Street. Barnes was arrested with a black Taurus handgun. The teen said he kidnapped her.
The girl told investigators that Barnes forced her to touch his genitals at gunpoint as they got into her father's vehicle. When Barnes got her out of the vehicle, he forced her at gunpoint to perform a sex act.
As the father got out of the car, Barnes flashed the gun and told him to get back in the car.
On Monday, jurors saw bodycam footage from Gary Police Officer Tatum, who responded first to the home on the 2200 block of Washington Street where the girl, Barnes and another man were found on the back porch. She was eating food.
We're just hanging out, Barnes claimed.
Where are you from, Tatum asked the girl.
'New York,' she responded.
What are you doing here, Tatum responded.
I was visiting Michael Jackson's house, she said.
He radioed that he found the missing girl. Tatum testified he handcuffed Barnes and took a gun off him. The other man was arrested, but not charged, according to public court filings. The man got a call while at Brother's Keeper and walked to the Washington Street home. He is not mentioned in Barnes' original charging affidavit.
Did she appear to be held at gunpoint or crying, Varga asked on cross-examination. No, Tatum responded.
Earlier, jurors heard a 911 call from a man who said he got a cell phone notification from his video security system from the Washington Street home that three people were on the back porch.
Court documents indicate Barnes, a.k.a. Osia, got 70 years in 1985 for a rape conviction. Indiana law at the time required inmates to serve 50% of the sentence. It was not immediately clear Monday when he was released.
The trial continues this week.