Dublin Man Sentenced To Over 21 Years For Distribution Of Child Pornography

AUGUSTA, GA – Herbert Eugene Burroughs, 47, of Dublin, Georgia was sentenced last week by United States District Court Senior Judge Dudley H. Bowen, Jr. to over 21 years (262 months) in prison, followed by ten years of supervised release, for distributing child pornography.  Burroughs pled guilty to two counts of distributing child pornography in December 2013.  He will be required to register as a sex offender.

According to the evidence presented at Burroughs’s plea and sentencing hearings, between April and June 2013, Burroughs, who was in Dublin, exchanged email messages with, and distributed child pornography to, a person he believed to be the mother of two young girls in Maryland, in an effort to meet the woman and her children to engage in illicit sexual conduct with the girls.  In fact, the mother was an undercover FBI agent working to identify and arrest child predators.  After obtaining a federal search warrant to review Burroughs’s email account, agents found that during that same time period and continuing at least until August of 2013, Burroughs actively traded child pornography with others through numerous email communications.  He had approximately 3,200 images and 164 videos depicting child sexual abuse in his account.

When imposing the lengthy prison sentence, Judge Bowen noted the troubling nature of the evidence in the case and the need to provide an example to others who may be similarly inclined.  At the conclusion of the hearing, Burroughs was returned to the custody of the United States Marshal Service to serve his sentence.

United States Attorney Edward J. Tarver stated, “It is beyond shocking that an adult would send child pornographic images to a mother of two young girls, in order to arrange to have sex with those girls.  It is impossible to know how many other children may have been at risk if Burroughs had not been identified and stopped.  Burroughs committed a serious crime for which lengthy punishment is justified.  There is no higher priority than the protection of our nation’s children.  This United States Attorney’s Office will continue its efforts to prosecute those who endanger the safety of our children.”

 Special Agent in Charge, FBI Atlanta Field Office, J. Britt Johnson, stated, “This investigation was the result of information sharing and coordination among several components within the FBI that learned of Burroughs and his activities online which further led to his identification and arrest.  It is the hope of the FBI that others engaged in similar activities to the distribution of child pornography will take note of the significant prison sentence handed down to Mr. Burroughs in federal court”
          This case was investigated by FBI SA Daniel E. O'Donnell and SA Jacqueline Dougher from Baltimore, who work with the FBI's Violent Crimes Against Children (VCAC), Major Case Coordination Unit (MCCU), and by FBI SA Edward Sutcliff in Statesboro, Georgia.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a U. S. 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.

Assistant United States Attorney Nancy Greenwood, Deputy Criminal Chief in the Augusta U. S. Attorney’s Branch Office and Project Safe Childhood Coordinator, prosecuted the case on behalf of the United States.  For additional information, please contact First Assistant United States Attorney James D. Durham at (912) 201-2547.