James S. Burland, a 69-year-old resident of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, has pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography. The plea was entered before U.S. District Judge John W. deGravelles, as announced by United States Attorney Ronald C. Gathe, Jr. Following his plea, Burland was remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshal’s Office pending sentencing.
Burland's conviction carries a potential maximum penalty of twenty years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and up to a lifetime period of supervised release with sex offender registration requirements.
During the plea proceedings, it was revealed that on November 11, 2022, Burland uploaded an image of child pornography to his cloud storage account. Further investigation found that between that date and April 9, 2024, he possessed at least 150 additional files containing images of child pornography across his cloud storage and personal devices. Some images depicted prepubescent minors and children under the age of 12.
The investigation was conducted by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security - Homeland Security Investigations and the Louisiana Bureau of Investigation, Office of the Attorney General. Assistant United States Attorney Paul L. Pugliese is prosecuting the case.
This case is part of Project Safe Childhood, an initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse. The project aims to coordinate federal, state, and local resources to apprehend and prosecute individuals exploiting children via the Internet while also identifying and rescuing victims.
For more information about Project Safe Childhood, visit http://www.justice.gov/psc.