KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Christopher Anthony Burkett, 42, of Knoxville, Tenn., pleaded guilty on October 28, 2015, in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee, to using a minor to produce child pornography and to distributing child pornography.

Pursuant to his plea agreement, Burkett admitted that, from July 2014 through September 2014, he posed as a 19-year-old man on Facebook and solicited two minors to send pornographic images of themselves to him via the Internet.  Burkett also admitted to sending pornographic images of one minor victim to another minor victim via the Internet in order to coax the recipient to send him additional pornographic pictures of herself.

Sentencing has been set for 11:00 a.m., March 24, 2016. Burkett faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years and maximum of up to 50 years in prison, as well as supervised release following incarceration, restitution, and fines.  Burkett will also be required to register as a sex offender in any state in which he lives, works, or attends school.

This investigation was conducted by the Knoxville Police Department’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Morris represented the United States.

This case 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 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, 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. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.