Child Pornographer Receives Enhanced Federal Sentence

RALEIGH, NC—United States Attorney Thomas G. Walker announced that in federal court yesterday Chief United States District Judge James C. Dever, III sentenced Billy Charles Burgess, 66, to 258 months’ imprisonment, followed by a life-term of supervised release. The court also imposed a fine of $25,000. Because of a prior federal conviction in the Middle District of Florida in 2000 involving child pornography, Burgess received an enhanced sentence.

On November 12, 2008, a federal grand jury returned a criminal indictment charging Burgess. On January 9, 2012, Burgess pled guilty to receipt of child pornography, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 2252(a)(2).

According to evidence presented in court, on March 30, 2005, a search warrant was executed at Burgess’ residence. It was learned that earlier in the month Burgess sent three photos, via the Internet, of prepubescent females engaged in sexual acts to a person posing as the mother of a juvenile that he anticipated meeting. During the search, a desktop and a laptop computer were seized. Additionally, four pictures of child pornography were recovered from Burgess’ computer, which had been downloaded from the Internet.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood (PSC), 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 the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, PSC marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about PSC, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/. For more information about Internet safety education, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/resources.html and click on the tab “Resources.”

Investigation of this case was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the United States Postal Inspection Service, the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation and the Raleigh Police Department. Assistant United States Attorney Ethan Ontjes is serving as prosecutor for the government.