Former Houston-area teacher sentenced to more than 8 years in prison for receiving child pornography

HOUSTON — A former Houston-area teacher was sentenced Monday to more than eight years in federal prison following his conviction for receiving child pornography.

This sentence was announced by U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson, Southern District of Texas.  This investigation was conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Alvin (Texas) Police Department, and the Alvin Independent School District Police Department.

Scott Burns, 46, of Alvin, was sentenced to 97 months in prison and to 12 years of supervised release by U.S. District Judge Lynn N. Hughes. Burns will also be required to register as a sex offender. He pleaded guilty to the charges May 18. 

This investigation began after an abandoned briefcase was turned over to the Brazoria County Sheriff's Office that was found to contain child pornography. Authorities believed it was part of an active investigation involving Burns and forwarded it to HSI. Compact discs recovered from the abandoned briefcase contained 598 images and two videos of child pornography, along with personal and family photos.

Burns had previously been identified as a person of interest during an online undercover investigation in which he solicited nude and hardcore images of minors aged 12 to 17 via imgsrc.ru, a photo-sharing website.

A search warrant executed on Burns’s home in March 2014 led to the discovery of various electronic media revealing 418 images and 15 videos of child pornography, including pictures of prepubescent minors, acts of sadism, masochism, bestiality and/or bondage. During an interview with Burns the following day, he claimed that used the Internet to locate child pornography, but that he did so in order to report it to website administrators.

Burns also possessed pictures of former students, which he had posted onto his Flickr account. Burns admitted that he kept in touch with former students for artistic purposes.  Burns is a former teacher with the Alvin Independent School District.

Burns will remain in federal custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.

This investigation was conducted under HSI’s Operation Predator, an international initiative to protect children from sexual predators. Since the launch of Operation Predator in 2003, HSI has arrested more than 14,000 individuals for crimes against children, including the production and distribution of online child pornography, traveling overseas for sex with minors, and sex trafficking of children. In fiscal year 2015, nearly 2,400 individuals were arrested by HSI special agents under this initiative and more than 1,000 victims identified or rescued.

HSI encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free Tip Line at 1-866-DHS-2-ICE or by completing its online tip form. Both are staffed around the clock by investigators. From outside the U.S. and Canada, callers should dial 802-872-6199. Hearing impaired users can call TTY 802-872-6196.

Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, via its toll-free 24-hour hotline, 1-800-THE-LOST.

For additional information about wanted suspected child predators, download HSI’s Operation Predator smartphone app or visit the online suspect alerts page.