Bill Mercer, United States Attorney for the District of Montana, announced today that during a federal court session in Helena, on September 15, 2009, before Senior U.S. District Judge Charles C. Lovell, KYLE G. BURRIS, a 39-year-old resident of Tonawanda, New York, appeared for sentencing. BURRIS was sentenced to a term of:

• Prison: 188 months

• Special Assessment: $600

• Supervised Release: lifetime

BURRIS was sentenced in connection with his guilty plea to attempted sexual exploitation of children, distribution of child pornography, and attempted distribution of child pornography to a minor.

In an Offer of Proof filed by the United States, the government stated it would have proved at trial the following:

In September of 2008, an FBI agent in Montana, operating on the Internet in an undercover capacity posing as a single mother with two preteen daughters, was contacted by BURRIS of New York. BURRIS engaged the agent in a conversation about having sex with the daughters, and then sent the agent pictures of children engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

During their conversations, BURRIS distributed pictures of children engaged in sexually explicit conduct to the agent on September 27, October 20, and October 24-25, 2008.

On September 27, 2008, BURRIS sent pictures of children engaged in sexually explicit conduct and told the agent to show them to the daughters, in an effort to ready them for sexual activity and pictures to be taken of them. BURRIS repeatedly referenced the agent having sexual activity with the daughters, and then on October 24-25, instructed the undercover agent in how to molest the girls and take pictures of them to send to BURRIS.

BURRIS requested that the two talk by telephone, so the agent utilized a female confidential informant to speak with BURRIS. BURRIS discussed traveling to Montana to have sex with the two daughters and instructed the agent on how to send the sexually explicit photographs of the daughters to him via the Internet.

BURRIS reported that the pictures of children he had sent on numerous occasions to the agent were sent to him by others who were molesting their children and photographing the images for his benefit.

On November 20, 2008, the FBI served a search warrant on BURRIS' residence in Tonawanda, New York. Numerous items of computer equipment containing images of child pornography were recovered. When questioned, BURRIS admitted to his activities and also admitted that he had molested several children in his neighborhood as well.

Because there is no parole in the federal system, the "truth in sentencing" guidelines mandate that BURRIS will likely serve all of the time imposed by the court. In the federal system, BURRIS does have the opportunity to earn a sentence reduction for "good behavior." However, this reduction will not exceed 15% of the overall sentence.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Marcia K. Hurd prosecuted the case for the United States.

The investigation was a cooperative effort between the Helena Police Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Montana Division of Criminal Investigation, and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood. In February 2006, the Department of Justice launched Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys' Offices, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov/.

 

 

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