To Catch a Predator · Ocean County investigation
Richard Burnham
Richard Burnham pleaded guilty following the Ocean County investigation. He received 180 days in county jail as a condition of probation, followed by lifetime parole supervision.
Photo: To Catch a Predator Wiki
- Outcome
- Sentenced
- Evidence
- Court-verified
- Jurisdiction
- Ocean County, New Jersey
- Encounter
- Not established
- Decoy posed as
- Girl6
- Case number
- 07-08-01280-I
Personal details
- Born
- January 12, 1965
- Occupation
- Firefighter · Photojournalist
- Marital status
- Divorced
- Weight
- 240 lb
- Hair
- Black
- Eyes
- Brown
Charges & sentence
3 counts · 1 convicted · 2 dismissed
07-08-01280-I
Sentence
One year of probation with 180 days in county jail as a condition; the judgment terminates probation after jail completion and imposes parole supervision for life. Registration, DNA and financial conditions also apply.
Supported by the linked court record.
Case records
07-08-01280-IHansen investigation · 2007 · Sentenced
- Court
- Superior Court of New Jersey, Ocean County
- Case number
- 07-08-01280-I
- Filed
- Aug 8, 2007
3 counts · 1 convicted · 2 dismissed
07-08-01280-I
Sentence · Dec 5, 2008
One year of probation with 180 days in county jail as a condition; the judgment terminates probation after jail completion and imposes parole supervision for life. Registration, DNA and financial conditions also apply.19
Reviewed signed judgment, PDF pages 10-11; indictment pages 12-14; plea pages 1-9. Count one was originally attempted sexual assault and amended to attempted endangering, not a fourth count. The proposed 364-day jail recommendation and five-year statutory maximum were not imposed. Two days custody credit is not an additional term. Later alleged registration and supervision violations are separate.
2025CF1199Separate criminal matter · Charged
- Case number
- 2025CF1199
2025CF1199
Historical booking screenshot, not a judgment. Exact descriptive conduct is not expanded from statutory shorthand. Two rows are displayed; no final disposition or imposed sentence established. Screenshot age field differs from its birth date, so age is not imported.
Sources 3
Supervision proceedingUnverified
Probation violation, interstate supervision
Unverified3
Screenshot lists D34192 INTERSTATE as an agency supervision reference, not established court docket. No revocation ruling, imposed sanction or current custody inferred. The archive connects this later supervision allegation to the original New Jersey registration case.
Sources 3
Case narrative
Sting
On March 31, 2007, Burnham drove over three hours to arrive at the sting house where he thought the decoy was home alone. Instead of meeting a real child, he was met by an eighteen-year-old actress named Casey, who was posing as the teenage girl. After she offered him some brownies, Burnham refused, stood up from the stool he was sitting on, and walked towards her. Casey explained that she felt creeped out and immediately fled the room since she was instructed to walk away if she ever felt uncomfortable. After Burnham tried to chase after her, To Catch a Predator host Chris Hansen appeared and told him to sit down. When confronted, Burnham admitted to wanting to have sex with a fourteen-year-old girl and brought along with him a tube of KY Lubricating Jelly.
Burnham admitted that he works as a freelance photographer, but in his past job, he was a firefighter captain for twenty-two years. Burnham also shared that he was divorced and had two kids. He said that he tried to have sex with the girl because he was feeling lonely and broke. However, he insisted that he had never actually met with an underage girl for sex. When Hansen revealed his identity and the cameras, Burnham initially objected and admitted that he knew he was in trouble. After some persuading, Burnham left and was then arrested.
Community-written, from the To Catch a Predator Wiki. Not independently verified, and it does not establish charges or court outcomes.
Richard Burnham, To Catch a Predator Wiki contributors; see revision and history links. · CC-BY-SA
Media
Sources
- 1State of New Jersey v. Richard S. Burnham: judgment of conviction,07-08-01280-IThe signed judgment imposes one year of probation with180days in county jail. It expressly terminates probation on jail completion and then imposes parole supervision for life, with registration and DNA requirements. Counts2and3 are dismissed.
- 2Richard S. Burnham: indictment, plea and signed judgmentRendered all fourteen pages. Indictment 07-08-01280-I was filed August 8, 2007. June 25, 2008 guilty plea amended count one to attempted child endangerment. Signed December 5 judgment dismisses counts two and three, imposes 180 days as a probation condition, and terminates probation after jail completion in favor of lifetime parole supervision.
- 3Richard Stephen Burnham: Sumter booking record screenshotScreenshot identifies Richard Stephen Burnham and January 12, 1965 birth date, matching the original judgment. It lists October 31, 2025 booking, two registration-violation entries in case 2025CF1199 and a separate interstate probation-violation entry. No adjudication or sentence is shown.
- 494: uconnbluenwhite” and “stevetakespics” on MegaphonePublic episode metadata matches the publisher RSS recording by title, release date and exact enclosure identifier. Reviewed publisher title/description names this profile as the subject of the recording.
- 594: uconnbluenwhite” and “stevetakespics” on SpotifyPublic episode metadata matches the publisher RSS recording by title, release date and exact enclosure identifier. Reviewed publisher title/description names this profile as the subject of the recording.
- 6Richard Burnham (community wiki)Attributed community article. Revision date describes the article update, not a court or sting event. Full infobox, narrative sections, references and assets are retained in the private archive.
- 7External reference (drive.google.com)External reference (drive.google.com). Linked from Richard Burnham, revision 16067; original provenance and document claims require separate verification.
- 8Richard Burnham: occupation informationThe profile infobox lists these occupations. Undated roles do not establish current employment.
- 9Richard Burnham: legal outcome (revision 16067)One year of probation with 180 days in county jail as a condition; the judgment terminates probation after jail completion and imposes parole supervision for life. Registration, DNA and financial conditions also apply.
- 10Richard Burnham: archived criminal-history narrativeCommunity narrative reviewed for the explicitly identified subject; not a court record.