A Connecticut man faces federal charges after authorities allegedly tied him to multiple child exploitation videos that were shared online using an IP address at a restaurant where he worked.
Richard Burris, 22, of Bolton was arrested Friday in connection with a federal criminal complaint, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Connecticut. He appeared the same day in federal court in Hartford and was ordered by U.S. Magistrate Robert A. Richardson to be detained, officials said.
Burris faces charges of production of child pornography, receipt and distribution of child pornography and possession of child pornography.
According to authorities, the Vernon Police Department in September received a CyberTipline report from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. The report indicated that a child exploitation video was shared through the Kik messenger app on Sept. 7 using an IP address that belonged to a restaurant in Vernon.
Officials said the report also indicated that the same IP address was connected to a similar video that was shared in March through the social media platform X.
Federal authorities said investigators found that Burris was the only employee of the restaurant who worked on both of those dates.
On Dec. 12, investigators carried out a search warrant at Burris’s residence, seizing his iPhone and other items, officials said. A preliminary analysis of the phone revealed numerous child sex abuse images and videos, including images and videos that Burris allegedly recorded of a prepubescent minor victim, authorities said.
Investigators also accessed Burris’s Telegram account, which he allegedly used to share child sex abuse images and videos with another Telegram user, officials said.
The charges Burris faces expose him to minimum mandatory prison terms totaling 20 years and a maximum of 70 years, officials said.

