Updated at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025.
Editor’s note: This story contains descriptions of sexual assault that may be disturbing to some readers.
A former fire captain with the Hygiene Fire Protection District is accused of repeatedly sexually assaulting five women, including two minors and two women whom he supervised, from 2018 to 2021. The trial against him started on Monday.
Kamron Barnaby, 33, faces 17 total counts, 13 of which involve his alleged sexual assault, unlawful sexual contact, sexual assault on a child by a person in a position of trust, among others.
Boulder County District Attorney Michael Dougherty spoke about those 13 charges in his opening statement on Tuesday.
“The number will never capture the trauma and suffering that he caused these women,” said Dougherty.
Consent will be a major theme in this trial.
In its opening statement, the defense said it plans to show that the five victims consented in various ways, including through communications such as explicit photos, messages and, in some cases, during sexual encounters with Barnaby.
James Merson, one of Barnaby’s attorneys, said that Barnaby “used these women for sex,” and that he was a womanizer who engaged consensually with the alleged victims.
“Womanizing behavior is horrible. There's no excuse for it. We're not trying to excuse any of that behavior. It is not the same thing as sexual violence. It's not the same thing as a sex assault. It's not the same thing as rape,” said Merson.
On Tuesday, one of the alleged victims, who was 15 at the time of her first sexual encounter with Barnaby, testified.
The woman, now 22, said she saw Barnaby as an “older brother” and a “role model” — she met him in seventh grade when her father joined the station as a volunteer firefighter.
In tense, sometimes emotional testimony, she recalled that he began treating her differently when her body started changing around age 14. She described their relationship shifting significantly, with the first sexual assault when she was 15, outside of her house while her father was sleeping in the house. The woman’s voice cracked with emotion while testifying, sharing how, as time went on, he began sending her unsolicited obscene videos.
“I didn’t ask for any of these to be sent to me,” she said. “When I saw he would send me either pictures or videos, I would have to brace myself to open them.”
The other minor in the case was a 17-year-old intern at the department, whom the prosecution said Barnaby also sent inappropriate messages and photos to, and ultimately sexually assaulted in July 2019. Investigators also found that some of the alleged assaults happened while Barnaby was on duty as a captain.
The prosecution doesn’t deny that there were signs of involvement on both sides for some victims. Dougherty told the jury that one alleged victim, who will testify, had consensual sex with Barnaby after her alleged assault.
Dougherty said that the individual was transparent about that when recounting the alleged assault and that, while it might affect how a detective would react, sharing that detail was an “anchor to her credibility.”
An internal investigation into Barnaby was conducted in 2021. It found that he broke policy by having a romantic relationship with a subordinate, which at the time was believed to be consensual.
That internal report included interviews with several female firefighters who “spoke about sexual harassment or unwelcomed sexual advances.” Barnaby was not fired and instead was allowed to resign.
He went on to work at Mountain View Fire Protection District. During opening statements, Dougherty said that after Barnaby resigned, he still visited some Hygiene department events and was treated as a “returning hero” — something difficult for the victims who worked there to see.
According to the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office, a criminal investigation into Barnaby began in 2022 after deputies were made aware of a sexual assault allegation against Barnaby. He was arrested in April 2023.
The trial continues this week. The prosecution plans to call former Hygiene firefighters, expert witnesses in sexual assault cases and the four other alleged victims to the stand.
Editor's note: This story was updated to correct the position of the man on trial. Kamron Barnaby was a captain in the Hygiene fire department.
