Man convicted of crimes against children sentenced to 60 years in prison

Ricky Tolbert, 47, was sentenced Tuesday to the maximum penalty of 60 years in prison for two counts of Lewd or Lascivious Conduct.

Tolbert received 30 years in prison for each count to be served consecutively. Tolbert was sentenced as a Habitual Felony Offender and is also now designated a lifetime Sexual Offender. He was found guilty following a trial in May.

In January 2018 Tolbert worked at a barber shop in Fort Myers. He would play with children who came in with their parents. In one instance he turned off the lights to a back room and had a child sit on his lap while he committed lewd acts to the child. That child told her mother the next day, who contacted the Fort Myers Police Department. During the investigation, police discovered another child the defendant committed lewd acts on between 2016 and 2017 also at the barber shop.

During the trial the jury heard from a third victim who experienced similar lewd touching from the defendant in 2010. She is now an adult and testified that Tolbert committed the acts upon her at a different barbershop in Fort Myers. Tolbert was prosecuted for abusing this victim in a separate case.