SYRACUSE, NEW YORK – Deryk Paul Burdick, age 33, of Auburn, New York waived indictment and pled guilty today to receipt and possession of child pornography. The announcement was made by United States Attorney Carla B. Freedman, Matthew Scarpino, Acting Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Buffalo Field Office, and New York State Police Superintendent Kevin P. Bruen.
As a part of his guilty plea Burdick, a former school bus driver, admitted that he purchased and downloaded hundreds of child pornography images and videos from the dark web from December 2019 through March 2020 and had child pornography files in his possession in December 2021.
At sentencing on October 12, 2022, Burdick faces a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of five years and a maximum term of 20 years for the receipt offense and a maximum term of 20 years’ imprisonment for the possession offense. In addition to imprisonment, Burdick can be fined up to $250,000 per count, will be required to pay restitution to the victims of his child pornography receipt and possession offenses, and will be required to serve a term of supervised release after imprisonment of between five years and life. Burdick also will have to register as sex offender upon his release. A defendant’s sentence is imposed by a judge based on the statutes the defendant violated, the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, and other factors.
Burdick’s case is being investigated by the Department of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the New York State Police, the Auburn Police Department, and the New York State Internet Crimes Against Children Taskforce (ICAC). The joint effort is a part of Project Safe Childhood. Launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice, Project Safe Childhood is led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS). 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 https://www.justice.gov/psc.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael D. Gadarian.