PORTLAND, Maine — A Colorado man who sexually abused a 6-year-old girl, photographed the abuse and emailed the pictures to an undercover agent in Maine was sentenced Wednesday in U.S. District Court to 30 years in federal prison.
David William Burkman, 31, of Canon City, Colorado, pleaded guilty in October to one count each of sexually exploiting a child and transporting child pornography, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.
In addition to prison time, Burkman was sentenced to a lifetime of supervised release.
By pleading guilty, Burkman admitted that on April 21, 2014, he engaged in sexually explicit conduct with a 6-year-old girl and took photographs of that conduct with his cellphone, according to court documents.
The next day, he emailed the photographs to a special agent with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations in Maine working undercover.
Burkman, who was required to register as a sex offender in Colorado, was convicted in 2008 of similar crimes, according to the U.S. attorney’s office. He was sentenced to five years in prison in Colorado and released in 2011, according to court documents.
Due to his prior conviction, Burkman faced between 25 years and 50 years in prison on the sexual exploitation charge and a sentence of between 15 years and 40 years in prison on the transportation charge. He faces a fine of up to $250,000 on each count.
The investigation was conducted by ICE and the Colorado Springs Police Department, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.