Dinwiddie County Man Sentenced to Prison for Child Pornography

RICHMOND, Va. – A Dinwiddie County man was sentenced today to 27 years in prison and ordered to pay $97,500 in restitution for producing images of child sexual abuse involving two local minor victims.

“The nature and circumstances of Burke’s conduct are nothing short of horrendous,” said G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. “His predation on these two minor survivors is likely to have personal and public reverberations for decades to come. I want to thank and applaud our law enforcement partners and prosecutors for ensuring that Burke will now be in a place where he cannot sexually abuse minors. Our office has a long history of engaging with our state, local, and federal partners outside of the immediate Richmond area and we will continue to fight crime no matter where the conduct is occurring within the Eastern District of Virginia.”

According to court documents, throughout 2017, Thomas James Burke, 34, sexually abused two minors under 11 years of age and produced images of the sexual abuse with his cell phone. Federal agents executed a search warrant at Burke’s Dinwiddie County residence after the images he produced were discovered by Australian law enforcement on the computers of an Australian individual who was being investigated for child pornography offenses. Burke had sent the images, as well as other child pornography, to the Australian defendant over the “Kik” application on his cell phone. An additional image produced by Burke was also recovered off of an individual’s phone in Oregon after he was arrested for child pornography crimes.

“Those who think they may conceal their heinous crimes behind technology and across international borders are sorely mistaken,” said Patrick J. Lechleitner, Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Washington, D.C. “Our highly trained investigators will continue to identify and locate these offenders wherever they are hiding to ensure Thomas Burke and criminals like him answer for their actions and cannot victimize another child.”

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), 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 to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Patrick J. Lechleitner, Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Washington, D.C., made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge M. Hannah Lauck. Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Gene Fishel prosecuted the case.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information is located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 3:18-cr-19.