An American man, James Patrick Burns, has been sentenced to 65 years in prison for sexually exploiting multiple minors and distributing child sexual abuse material (CSAM) that he coerced these minors into producing.
His sentence will be followed by a lifetime of supervised release.
The United States Department of Justice (DoJ) disclosed this in a statement published on its website on Friday, July 19.
On March 5, a federal jury convicted Burns of eight counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, eight counts of coercion and enticement of a minor, and one count each of advertising, receiving, distributing, and possessing child pornography.
The DoJ said Burns was already a registered sex offender at the time of these crimes, and the jury also convicted him of committing certain specified felony offenses while required to register as a sex offender.
According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, between 2018 and 2021, Burns, 55, of Sparks, Nevada, “sextorted” multiple minors online via Omegle, Snapchat, Tiktok, and Mega.
He threatened these minors into producing child sexual abuse materials (CSAM) and then posted the CSAM on dark web forums.
The DoJ said during this period, Burns was the most prolific creator of illegal content on these forums.
“He victimized over 100 children, many of whom have yet to be identified.
“Burns’s crimes came to the attention of law enforcement when the mother of one of his victims saw threats on the victim’s phone and reported what she saw to the police,” the DoJ said.
Burns was also ordered to pay $82,655.92 in restitution and $21,000 in assessments under the Amy, Vicky, and Andy Child Pornography Victim Assistance Act.
