Crockett man downloads child pornography during investigator’s visit

CROCKETT, Texas (KLTV) – A Crockett man is in jail after he was found downloading child pornography during a law enforcement visit.

Bert Franklin Burris, 83, was arrested Monday by Henderson County Sheriff’s Office investigators at his home in Crockett. According to an arrest affidavit, investigators suspected Burris of distributing illegal material in their county, and he was active in downloading more when they arrived.

When investigators caught Burris red-handed, they were conducting a “knock and swat” at his home on Oct. 24, the document states. When they entered the home, the document says, they found him sitting at a computer connected to a large television, where investigators could see the torrent file sharing windows being closed by Burris.

The document says Henderson County was involved in the case when an Oct. 2 surveillance of a torrenting site linked hundreds of files coming into the county from an IP address based on Crockett.

After visiting his home on Oct. 24 and seeing the torrent windows, investigators spoke with Burris at his home, where he allegedly said he was the sole occupant. According to the affidavit, Burris admitted during this interview that he regularly downloads, watches and distributes child pornography and has been watching it for the past 30 years. He also allegedly admitted to actively downloading illicit files when they arrived.

Following the interview, investigators took six digital storage devices from Burris’ home, one of which was a three-terabyte drive. An arrest warrant was signed for Burris later that day and he was booked into the Henderson County Jail on Monday.

Burris gave up on Wednesday for $50,000.