Two men pleaded guilty to ‘sex tourism’ charges in an Alabama Federal Court Thursday, admitting they traveled to Thailand between 2000 and 2002 with the intent to sexually abuse children under the age of 10, the Department of Justice reports.
The report states that Burgess Lee Burgess, 44, of Mobile, Ala., and Mitchell Kent Jackson, 31, of Pensacola, Fla., were involved in an Internet chat group, boyhoodparadise.com, dedicated to men who had an explicit sexual interest in young boys.
Through the chat room the men corresponded with a New Jersey man, Wayne Richard Corliss, and a contact of his who lived in Thailand, John Wrenshall, who invited the three men to rendezvous with him in the Asian country.
Wrenshall, a Canadian living in Thailand, also told the men that for a price of $400, they could have unlimited ‘access’ to one boy throughout the trip.
Thailand has long been one of the sex trade capitals of the world, a country where child prostitution and sex trafficking is prominent.
The report also states that on the last of the three trips that were made, the four men photographed and videotaped the boys while engaging in sexual activity.
Corliss, who was arrested in May, pleaded guilty in a New Jersey Federal Court in late October.
Burgess and Jackson will be sentenced on April 3, 2009.‚ The DOJ reports the men face a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison, with the possibility of lifetime supervised release and a fine of $250,000.
The investigation was carried out by U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement and Interpol, with help from the Attorney’s Office in Alabama and New Jersey.
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