A federal court convicted a Nevada man Tuesday for coercing over 100 children into producing child pornography, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) said Wednesday.
James Patrick Burns, 55, a registered sex offender from Sparks, northwestern Nevada, enticed the children via various social media sites including Snapchat and Tiktok, victimized them into producing the child sexual abuse materials and then distributed the materials on “dark web forums,” court documents said, according to the DOJ’s statement.
“At the time, 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,” the DOJ said.
The mother of one of Burns’ victims discovered threats on the victim’s phone and alerted law enforcement agents, the documents said, according to the statement.
“The 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 also convicted in a separate trial for “committing specified felony offenses (from the first trial) while required to register as a sex offender,” the DOJ added.
Burns will be sentenced June 10 to no less than 25 years in prison with the possibility of a life sentence, the statement said. (RELATED: ‘Santa’ Jailed For Producing Child Porn After Son Apparently Commits Suicide During Federal Raid: REPORT)
A federal jury convicted James Patrick Burns, 55, of Sparks, Nevada yesterday for sexually exploiting multiple minors, and advertising and distributing child sexual abuse material (CSAM) that he coerced these minors into producing. DOJ Release: https://t.co/kvnOOGi67U pic.twitter.com/gG9bPwag0Y
— FBI Las Vegas (@FBILasVegas) March 6, 2024
“This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Justice Department,” the statement read in part.
Also on Wednesday, 23-year-old Missourian Kyle J. Gipson received a 30-year prison term after having pleaded guilty to sexually abusing a two-year-old child, the DOJ said in a separate statement. “Gipson was the monitor and gatekeeper for a social media group focused on” child pornography, sexual abuse of animals and rape, according to his plea agreement.
Gipson sent a nude photograph of his victim to an undercover Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agent, told the agent he had sexually abused the victim and offered the victim for sexual abuse, the plea stated, the statement revealed.
Gipson’s case was also part of Project Safe Childhood, the DOJ said.