Barnes remained a part of Jackson's inner circle for years. He was one of Jackson's defenders when the pop star was first accused of child molestation by Jordan Chandler in 1993. In a news interview at the time, he admitted that he was one of the boys who slept in the same bed as Jackson, but claimed that there was nothing strange about it because they slept on separate sides of the bed.
The details of when, exactly, Barnes stopping spending much time with Jackson are unclear. He was last seen in connection with the singer at his second molestation trial in 2005.