Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced that the jury trial has begun in in Greenville, Texas, in the State of Texas v. Jeffrey Barrett.  Barrett is accused of abusing three of his adopted children, isolating them, denying them an education and, over the course of several years, using them as forced labor in a puppy mill attached to his home.  

His wife, Barbara Barrett, was found guilty of Continuous Trafficking of Children in September 2021 and was sentenced to 99 years in prison. The State’s case against Mr. Barrett is being prosecuted with the assistance of the Hunt County District Attorney’s Office. The case was investigated by the Texas Department of Public Safety, the Hunt County Sheriff’s Office, and the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA).