Jury Convicts CA Man Who Traveled to PA in Horrific Child Exploitation Case

A man from Los Angeles, who visited the suburbs of Philadelphia twice, is potentially facing life in prison for targeting and training young girls to be his sex slaves.

• Caution: The details of this case may be disturbing to some

Earlier this week, 56-year-old John Douglas Burch was convicted on charges of use of an interstate commerce facility to entice a minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct, use of an interstate commerce facility to entice a minor to engage in prostitution, and two counts of traveling for the purpose of engaging in illicit sexual conduct with a minor.

Burch was charged in January 2024 after his nearly decade-long scheme to sexually exploit children online and "train" them to be his "sex slaves."

That "training," according to federal authorities, required the girls to listen to explicit audio recordings, watch violent pornography, create pornographic images and videos and then send them to Burch over the internet, and have sexual encounters and commercial sex with adult strangers, which Burch would encourage and promote.

As detailed in court filings, Burch caused one young girl, while she was 14 to 17 years old, "to produce and transmit over the internet numerous sexually explicit videos and images depicting [her] engaged in sex acts."

Burch also directed her to engage in commercial sex acts with various men in Pennsylvania, and he had her record those encounters as proof.

Also, in 2014 and 2015, Burch twice traveled from California to Pennsylvania and sexually assaulted the girl at a hotel in Montgomery County.

Burch is scheduled to be sentenced on August 25th. He faces up to life in prison and a $1 million fine.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice.

Chris Coleman is a South Jersey native and has been a cornerstone of the Atlantic City radio market since 1998. He serves as Brand Manager for WPG Talk Radio 95.5 and afternoon on-air personality for Cat Country 107.3. A five-time President's Circle award winner and Townsquare Media's 2024 Content Creator of the Year, Chris covers news, events, and stories of interest across Southern New Jersey. Story tips: chris.coleman@townsquaremedia.com