Richard Burnham

> *“No I’m all set.”*
>
>

> - Richard before going for the rape.
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>

**Richard Steven Burnham** is a suspected predator featured in the Ocean County, New Jersey sting.

## Background

Before getting caught in the sting, Richard Burnham worked as a free-lance photojournalist who specialized in sports photography for the "sportsshooter.com" website. He was also a retired member of the Hazardville Fire Department. 42-year-old Burnham began communication online with a decoy who told him she was a 14-year-old girl named "Jane." When chatting with the decoy on the internet, he pretended to be two different people, first posing as "uconnbluenwhite," a 21-year-old college student named "Rick." After mentioning about having sex, Burnham then posed as "Rick's" older friend 37-year-old "stevetakespix." In reality, he was speaking with someone from Perverted Justice posing as a teenage girl. Burnham then pretended to be "Steve" and used very gross and inappropriate language to describe how he wanted to take the girl's virginity. When the decoy expressed worry that she would get pregnant, Burnham responded “ if i get you preg i get you preg”. He would also call the decoy while apparently a pornographic movie was playing in the background using inappropriate language to talk about having oral sex, intercourse, and ejaculating into her, saying there’s an 85 percent chance she won’t get pregnant.

## Sting

On March 31, 2007, Burnham drove over three hours to arrive at the sting house where he thought the decoy was home alone. Instead of meeting a real child, he was met by an 18-year-old actress named Casey, who was posing as the teenage girl. After she offered him some brownies, Burnham refused and continued to chase after her. Casey explained that she felt creeped out and immediately fled the room. Casey was instructed to walk away if she ever felt uncomfortable. After Burnham tried to chase after her, *To Catch a Predator* host Chris Hansen appeared and told him to sit down. When confronted, Burnham admitted to wanting to have sex with a 14-year-old girl and brought a long with him a bottle of KY lubricating jelly.

Burnham admitted that he works as a freelance photographer, but in his past job, he was a firefighter captain for 22 years. Burnham also shared that he was divorced and had two kids. He said that he tried to have sex with the girl because he was feeling lonely and broke. However, he insisted that he had never actually met with an underage girl for sex. When Hansen read back the chat logs to him, Burnham admitted to everything he had written and agreed that it was clear he was planning to have sex with the girl. When Hansen revealed his identity and the cameras, Burnham initially objected and admitted that he knew he was in trouble. After some persuading, Burnham left and was then arrested.

## Arrest and sentence

After Burnham was arrested, he was charged with luring and enticing a child, second-degree sexual assault and attempted second-degree sexual assault. He was released from prison on a $50,000 bond. Burnham would later have all his charges downgraded to a single felony count of attempting to endanger the welfare of a child under a plea deal. In December 2008, Judge Barbara Ann Villano sentenced Burnham to 180 days in jail. While Burnham is on parole, he could face between three to five years in prison if he commits another crime or fails to register as a sex offender. In August 2015, Burnham moved to Lady Lake, Florida and is registered as a sexual offender on the Florida Sex Offender Registry.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Template:Cite web
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Template:Cite web
3. ↑ http://www.perverted-justice.com/?archive=stevetakespix%20/%20uconnbluenwhite%20/%20rickspics2006
4. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EaANdeYl0x0
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Template:Cite web
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Template:Cite web
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Template:Cite web
8. ↑ Template:Cite web
9. ↑ Template:Cite web
10. ↑ Template:Cite web