A 21-year-old South Dakota man has been sentenced to 22 ½ years in federal prison for blackmailing a minor female into sending him nude photographs of herself.
Austin A. Burns of Huron, S.D. was ordered to serve 22 ½ years (270 months) in federal prison by U.S. District Judge Colin S. Bruce. Following completion of his prison sentence, Burns will be required to serve five years of supervised release.
Burns will also be required to register as a sex offender. He has remained in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service since his arrest on August 14, 2014 in Huron, S.D.
The charges against Burns stem from an incident that occurred in 2014, in which he began communicating online with a minor female. When she revealed that she was only 13 years old, Burns demanded that she send him naked photographs of herself, threatening to post her naked photographs online if she did not comply.
Burns’ actions were investigated by the Champaign Police Department, the Huron, S.D. Police Department, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Elly M. Peirson prosecuted the case, which was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006.
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 to identify and rescue victims.
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Key Facts
- State: Illinois
- Category: Sex Crimes|Cybercrime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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