Merrimack Man Sentenced On Child Pornography Offense

CONCORD, NEW HAMPSHIRE – Keith Burns, 41, of Merrimack, was sentenced in United States District Court for the District of New Hampshire to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to one count of attempted receipt of child pornography, announced United States Attorney John P. Kacavas.
  
The investigation began in March of 2013 when investigators in Jackson County, Oregon, received information from the parents of a 13-year-old girl that a man was communicating with her online and pressuring her to take pornographic images of herself.  The local authorities then contacted the FBI.  A subsequent investigation led to the identification and arrest of Keith Burns of Merrimack.  Burns was previously convicted of sexually assaulting a minor and is required by New Hampshire law to register with the state’s sex offender registry list.

United States Attorney Kacavas said, “Identifying, finding, and prosecuting predators like the defendant has been, and will continue to be, among the highest priorities of my office.” 

This case is being prosecuted under Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative by the U.S. Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.   Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s 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 identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

            The charge was the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Merrimack Police Department and the Jackson County, Oregon, Sherriff’s Department and the New Hampshire Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.   This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Helen White Fitzgibbon.