Bolton Man Charged With Producing, Distributing, & Possessing Child Pornography
Saturday, December 27, 2025, 8:00 A.M. ET. 2 Minute Read, By Art Fletcher: Englebrook Independent News,
HARTFORD, CT.- Last Friday, a 22-year-old Bolton, Connecticut, man, and accused child predator, learned he is facing 70 years in federal prison after being taken into custody and charged by a federal criminal complaint with producing, distributing, and possessing digital images and video files depicting the sexual exploitation and abuse of prepubescent and pubescent children.
According to U.S. Attorney David X. Sullivan, in September 2025, the Center for Missing and Exploited Children transmitted a CyberTip to the Vernon Police Department regarding a video file depicting the sexual exploitation of a young child that was uploaded to the Kik Messenger application on September 7, 2025, utilizing an IP address associated with a restaurant in Vernon, Connecticut.
The CyberTip also relayed that the same IP address was connected to a CyberTip submitted by the X Social Media platform involving a video file depicting child pornography uploaded to the platform on March 20, 2025. An investigation determined that Richard Burris, 22, of Bolton, Connecticut, was the only employee of the restaurant who worked on both of those dates.
On December 12, 2025, Connecticut Law Enforcement Investigators executed a state court-authorized search warrant at Burris’s residence and located and seized his iPhone, other electronic devices, and additional items of evidentiary value. An initial forensic examination of Burris’s cell phone uncovered numerous digital images and video files of child pornography, including digital images and video files that Burris recorded of a prepubescent child. Investigators additionally accessed Burris’s Telegram account, which he utilized to distribute child pornography with another Telegram user.
Federal Investigators File Charges
Following the execution of the search warrant, on Friday, December 19, 2025, Investigators arrested and formally charged Burris with one count of Production of Child Pornography; Receipt and Distribution of Child Pornography; and Possession of Child Pornography. Following being processed on the charges, Burris made his initial appearance in Federal Court in Hartford, Connecticut, and was ordered detained by U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert A. Richardson.
If convicted at trial, Burris faces on the charge of production of child pornography faces a mandatory minimum of 15 years and up to 30 years in federal prison. On the charge receipt and distribution of child pornography, Burris faces a mandatory minimum of five years and a maximum of 20 years in federal prison, and on the possession of child pornography, Burris faces a mandatory minimum of five years and up to 20 years in federal prison.
“The rules of the federal court require us to include a statement that states: The charges outlined in this publication are merely accusations, and the defendant and or defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt.”
