A longtime Twin Cities girls volleyball coach received a 33-year federal prison sentence Tuesday after sexually abusing and preying on multiple players for nearly a decade by pursuing them on social media and video recording some of the encounters.
Dorian Christopher Barrs, 33, of Minnetonka will receive a lifetime sentence of supervised release after his prison time. He pleaded guilty last year to two federal counts of producing child pornography in connection with the abuse that occurred from October 2014 through March 2024.
“The defendant abused a position of trust for both the victims and their families,” U.S. District Judge Nancy Brasel said in court, calling the offenses “every parent’s nightmare.”
Federal prosecutors said they have identified 19 underage victims targeted by Barrs, 14 of whom he coached. His coaching career included stints at Maple Grove High School, clubs Minnesota Select and Crossfire Volleyball and private lessons.
Prosecutors agreed not to seek a sentence longer than 35 years, according to his plea. Barrs’ defense attorneys called for 20 years in prison, stating the length was appropriate because it both “punishes and deters” him. In sentencing documents, Barrs’ attorneys said he has shown remorse for his actions and mentioned Barrs’ personal history of being sexually abused.
“He is flawed and good at the same time. He must be punished and rehabilitated,” wrote Aaron Morrison, Barrs’ federal defender.
According to the charges, Barrs used Snapchat, text messages and other social media applications to lure the girls into sexual conversations. He would then coerce the players to produce child pornography and send the material to him. Barr is also accused of committing sex acts with five of the underage victims, prosecutors said in a news release.
Barrs also often “assumed the identity and Snapchat account of a minor victim … in order to attempt to and knowingly employ, use, persuade, induce, entice and coerce minor victims” into sending him explicit videos and images of themselves, his plea said. Barrs then sent the material to other victims to further his conversations.
