Arrested man charged with sex exploitation

A Walhalla man has been arrested and charged with 15 counts of sexual exploitation of a minor – 3rd degree.  Barry Dean Neal was jailed yesterday and, according to the sheriff’s office, if he is released before trial he will be required to wear an electronic monitoring device. Investigators executed a search warrant yesterday at the home of the 36-year old Neal and they say they seized various electronic equipment and SIM cards.  They then, according to the announcement, used a separate search warrant to access data on those items.  The investigation continues and the sheriff’s office won’t release other information that would potentially identify the victims in this case, which includes any relationship between the victims and Neal, the ages of the victims, their gender, and their address.