TACOMA, Wash. — The U.S. District Court in Tacoma sentenced 52-year-old Tacoma resident Gail Lynn Burnworth to six years in prison for distribution of child pornography on Tuesday.
Burnworth and her boyfriend, Michael Kellar, 59, were arrested in August 2017, after a passenger on a flight to San Jose noticed disturbing texts between Kellar, who was on the plane, and Burnworth, who was in Tacoma.
The witness on the plane notified a flight attendant, who arranged for the police to meet the plane. Kellar then was questioned by police.
After a review of his cell-phone showing explicit conversations with Burnworth discussing drugging and raping children in her care, Kellar was arrested.
Investigators found the two had produced and shared sexually explicit images of children who were placed in Burnworth’s care.
After obtaining a search warrant, the Seattle Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) task force found sexually explicit images on Burnworth’s devices and several hundred images of child pornography on Kellar’s laptop.
According to U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman, Burnworth claimed to be under the evil influence of her boyfriend.
On Sept. 25, 2019, Kellar pleaded guilty to child pornography charges and was sentenced to 15 years in prison in February 2020.
Following his prison term, Kellar will be required to register as a sex offender and be on a lifetime supervised release.
After serving her six-year sentence, Burnworth will be on 10 years of supervised release and also will be required to register as a sex offender.