Man accused of using BB gun to force teenager to exercise apologizes

A Leesburg man, who apparently usually wears a hat, accused of using a BB gun to motivate a teenager during football drills in blistering heat said on Monday he's sorry and that the incident was a misunderstanding. Robert Lynn Barker, 41, left his family home and was forced to cut off all contact with his stepson after he was arrested on Saturday on a child-abuse charge. He said that he would never hurt the boy he raised from infancy. "I didn't mean for this to get out of hand," a tearful Barker said. "I'm sorry if I did something wrong. Maybe I was a little over-zealous. I'm sorry."

On Saturday, the teen began to feel numb and dizzy during a Tavares youth football game and was benched to rest, a Lake County sheriff's report said. Barker said he decided to take his stepson home after he complained of side pain and that the boy soon felt better. When they got home, Barker told the teen he needed more conditioning so he set up cones about 20 yards apart in the front yard of their home. He made the boy run sprints in his football gear using the BB gun to signal the beginning of the drill, he said. It was 91 degrees with a heat index of 107 on Saturday, a deputy said in a report.

Barker, a former football player, said the sprints would help alleviate the athlete's pain, which he said was likely caused by a lack of conditioning. An anonymous caller heard the gun and called deputies, who appeared on the scene after the boy already had taken a cold shower. Barker was charged with one count of child abuse and one count of aggravated assault with a weapon. He bonded out of the Lake County jail on Sunday.

As a condition of his release, he cannot have any contact with the youth. "I'm not a perfect father and I don't know anybody who is," Barker said. "I didn't mean to do anything wrong. It all got blown out of proportion." The teenager told deputies he feared Barker would use the weapon on him. His stepfather denied that, saying he never pointed the weapon at the boy. Barker has an upcoming court date in October.