Corpus Christi man sentenced to over 11 years for receiving child pornography

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - A local man was sentenced on Tuesday to 11 years and three months in prison for receiving child pornography, announced U. S. Attorney José Angel Moreno, Southern District of Texas. The investigation was conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Corpus Christi Police Department.

Frank L. Burdick, 51, was sentenced to 135 months in prison on March 22 by U.S. District Court Judge John D. Rainey. Burdick's prison time will be followed by a 10-year-term of supervised release, with a number of special conditions designed to protect children and prohibit the use of the Internet. He will also be required to register as a sex offender for life.

Burdick admitted on Dec. 21, 2010 that he had previously used an online file-sharing program to search for and acquire child pornography. A roommate who was residing with Burdick in August 2010 reported to the Corpus Christi Police Department that he had observed Burdick viewing child pornography images on a computer within the home.

ICE HSI agents seized a computer at Burdick's residence and forensically analyzed it. They discovered on the computer more than 100 images and six videos of child pornography consisting of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. Several of the images and videos depicted victims identified by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. A second roommate later discovered an envelope with Burdick's name that contained several printed images of child pornography. Burdick's fingerprints were identified on those printed images.

In sentencing Burdick, Judge Rainey considered the real and continuing harm done to children whose abuse was recorded and proliferated on the Internet, as well as the need to protect the public from Burdick in the future.

This investigation was part of Operation Predator, a nationwide ICE initiative to protect children from sexual predators, including those who travel overseas for sex with minors, Internet child pornographers, criminal alien sex offenders, and child sex traffickers.

ICE encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free hotline at 1-866-DHS-2ICE. This hotline is staffed around the clock by investigators.

Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, at 1-800-843-5678 or http://www.cybertipline.com.