Sailor Pleads Guilty to
Possession of Child Pornography
United States Attorney Karen P. Hewitt
announced that Christopher Lee Burgess pled guilty
today in federal court in San Diego to an Information
charging him with one count of possession of child
pornography in violation of Title 18, United States
Code, Section 2252(a)(4)(B). Burgess entered his guilty
plea before Magistrate Judge Jan M. Adler, subject
to final acceptance of the plea by United States District
Court Judge M. James Lorenz, at the time of sentencing.
According to the court records, Burgess
admitted that on or about August 9, 2007, he possessed
a computer
which contained over 600 images of minors, some as
young as five or six years old, engaging in sexually
explicit conduct with adults and each other. At the
time of his arrest, Burgess was active duty Navy
stationed at Naval Air Station, Coronado. Sentencing
for Burgess
is scheduled for May 27, 2008 at 8:30 a.m., before
Judge Lorenz.
This case stems from an investigation
by the San Diego Internet Crimes Against Children
Task Force,
whose
members include the Federal Bureau of Investigation,
the Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the San
Diego Police Department, the San Diego County Sheriff’s
Department, the Chula Vista Police Department, the
United States Attorney’s Office, the San Diego
District Attorney’s Office, the United States
Postal Inspection Service, the Naval Criminal Investigative
Service, the United States Marshals Service, the
Regional Computer Forensics Laboratory, the Defense
Criminal
Investigative Service, and the El Cajon Police Department.
This case is being brought as part of
Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide Department of
Justice initiative designed to protect children from
online exploitation and abuse. 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.
DEFENDANT Case Number:
08cr0503-L
CHRISTOPHER LEE BURGESS
SUMMARY OF CHARGES
Title 18, United States Code, Section 2252(a)(4)(B)
(Possession of Child Pornography)
Maximum Penalty:
10 years’ incarceration, $250,000 fine, a minimum
of 5 years and up to a lifetime of supervised release
and registration as a sex offender.
AGENCIES
Naval Criminal Investigative Service
Immigration and
Customs Enforcement
