Columbia Man Indicted on Child Pornography Charges
Used False Identity to Trick Boy Scouts into Sending Pornographic Photos over the Internet

JEFFERSON CITY, MO—David M. Ketchmark, Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced today that a Columbia, Missouri man who used a false identity as a woman to trick seven separate victims, whom he knew through his involvement in the Boy Scouts of America, has been indicted by a federal grand jury for producing, receiving, and distributing child pornography.

Ian Francis Burow, 23, of Columbia, was charged in an eight-count indictment returned under seal by a federal grand jury in Jefferson City, Missouri, on November 7, 2012. That indictment was unsealed and made public upon Burow’s arrest and initial court appearance on Tuesday, November 27, 2012.

At a detention hearing today, the court ordered Burow to be held in federal custody without bond until his trial, which is currently scheduled for February 11, 2013.

The federal indictment alleges that Burow used the alias “Sarah McGee” to communicate with the minor victims and to trick them into sending him pornographic photographs of themselves. Burow allegedly received those images and distributed images of child pornography over the Internet.

Burow is charged with seven counts—involving six different victims—of receiving and distributing child pornography between December 27, 2010 and August 1, 2011. The indictment also charges Burow with one count of producing child pornography on October 14, 2011. Burow allegedly used a seventh minor victim to produce child pornography.

The indictment also contains a forfeiture allegation, which would require Burow to forfeit to the government any property used to commit the alleged offenses, including an Apple iPad, a laptop computer, an Apple iTouch, a Blackberry Curve, two external hard drives, and other items.

The government’s motion for detention notes that Burow faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in federal prison without parole if convicted of the production charge. Each of the other charges carries a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in federal prison without parole.

Ketchmark cautioned that the charges contained in this indictment are simply accusations and not evidence of guilt. Evidence supporting the charges must be presented to a federal trial jury, whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Anthony P. Gonzalez. It was investigated by the FBI and the Boone County, Missouri Sheriff’s Department.

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 the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood 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 Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. For more information about Internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab “Resources.”