Beaumont, TX–An East Texas man was sentenced Wednesday to 10 years in federal prison for enticing a minor.
John Edward Burns, 45, from Kountze, Texas, pleaded guilty on Aug. 16, 2017, to enticing a minor to engage in sexual activity and was sentenced to 120 months in federal prison Feb. 28 by U.S. District Judge Marcia Crone.
According to information presented in court, on July 17, 2017, Burns began a conversation through social media and a mobile messaging application with a person he believed to be a 15-year-old girl, but was actually an undercover investigator. During the course of the conversation, Burns attempted to persuade the child to send him nude photos of herself. Burns further made plans to meet the girl and take her to a Tyler, Texas, motel and engage in sexual intercourse. Burns was arrested on July 19, 2017, at a Beaumont park when he arrived to meet the person he believed to be a minor female.
The investigation was conducted under HSI’s Operation Predator, an international initiative to protect children from sexual predators.
