LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Calling him one of the "most prolific" creators of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) on the dark web has been sentenced to 65 years in prison for his crimes, the Department of Justice announced Friday.
James Patrick Burns, 55, of Sparks victimized and "sextorted" more than 100 children he met on Omegle, Snapchat, TikTok, and Mega.nz.
Between 2018 and 2021, Burns — already a registered sex offender — would threaten children he met on these social media channels into producing CSAM which he would then upload to child pornography forums on the dark web.
"At the time, Burns was the most prolific creator of illegal content on these forums," the DOJ stated in a news release. "He victimized over 100 children, many of whom have yet to be identified."
A jury convicted Burns of the following charges:
- Eight counts of sexual exploitation of a minor
- Eight counts of coercion and enticement of a minor
- One count of advertising, receiving, distributing and possessing child pornography
Burns is 55 years old, but if he were to ever get out of serving his 65-year sentence, it would be followed by a lifetime of supervised release. 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," the DOJ stated.
Law enforcement was made aware of Burns' crimes when the mother of one of the victims came forward after she found threats from Burns on her child's cell phone.
The case was investigated by the FBI-led Northern Nevada Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force. That task force features detectives and investigators from the Sparks Police Department, Washoe County Sheriff’s Office, Nevada Attorney General’s Office, and HSI.
Other law enforcement agencies in Los Angeles and Chicago assisted.
