A Nevada man was sentenced today to 65 years in prison, followed by lifetime supervised release, for sexually exploiting multiple minors and advertising and distributing child sexual abuse material (CSAM) that he coerced these minors into producing.
According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, between 2018 and 2021, James Patrick Burns, 55, of Sparks, “sextorted” multiple minors online via Omegle, Snapchat, TikTok, and Mega by threatening these minors into producing CSAM and then posting the CSAM on dark web forums. 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 offenses 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.
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.
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. At the time of these offenses, Burns was already a registered sex offender; the jury also convicted him of committing certain specified felony offenses while required to register as a sex offender.
Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri; U.S. Attorney Jason M. Frierson for the District of Nevada; Assistant Director Michael Nordwall of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division; Special Agent in Charge Spencer L. Evans of the FBI Las Vegas Field Office; and Special Agent in Charge Christopher Miller of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Las Vegas made the announcement.
The FBI-led Northern Nevada Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force investigated the case with detectives from Sparks Police Department, Washoe County Sheriff’s Office, Nevada Attorney General’s Office, and HSI. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office, HSI Chicago Field Office provided substantial assistance along with local law enforcement agencies nationwide.