U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Gathe, Jr. | U.S. Department of Justice
James S. Burland, a 69-year-old resident of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, has pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography. The plea was entered before U.S. District Judge John W. deGravelles. Following the plea, Burland was taken into custody by the U.S. Marshal’s Office and awaits sentencing. His conviction carries a potential penalty of up to twenty years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and possibly lifetime supervised release with sex offender registration requirements.
Burland admitted that on November 11, 2022, he uploaded an image of child pornography to his cloud storage account. Further investigation revealed that between that date and April 9, 2024, he had at least 150 additional files containing images of child pornography stored online and on personal devices. Some images depicted prepubescent minors and children under the age of 12.
The investigation was conducted by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security - Homeland Security Investigations and the Louisiana Bureau of Investigation, Office of the Attorney General. Assistant United States Attorney Paul L. Pugliese is prosecuting the case.
This case is part of Project Safe Childhood, an initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse nationwide. The project aims to locate and prosecute individuals exploiting children via the Internet while identifying and rescuing victims.
For more information about Project Safe Childhood, visit http://www.justice.gov/psc.
