Kristopher Kent Burden sex-offender registry photo.
LOGAN — A 34-year-old Salt Lake City sex-offender has pleaded guilty to driving to Logan to have sex with an undercover police officer posing as a teenage girl. Kristopher Kent Burden has been in the Cache County Jail since being arrested during a sting operation, Oct. 17, 2022.
Burden appeared for a final pretrial conference last Monday in 1st District Court. He waived his right to a trial and accepted a plea deal, pleading guilty to attempted rape of a child and attempted aggravated sexual abuse of a child, both first-degree felonies; along with enticing a minor by internet or text, a second-degree felony.
According to prosecutors, Burden began messaging a Logan City Police officer in September. The undercover officer was using an anonymous chat website that allows for one-on-one chats as well as group chats, and had identified themselves as a 13-year-old girl.
Burden messaged the officer and began asking about prior sexual experiences and if they could meet in person. He also described in graphic detail what he wanted to do with the officer and later said he wanted her to have his babies.
Police were able to determine Burden’s identity by tracking his phone number and personal information given in his texts. They later learned that he had been previously arrested for enticing a minor during a similar undercover police operation in Farmington. He was convicted of unlawful sexual activity with a teenager and was placed on the sex-offender registry.
Oct. 17, Burden messaged the undercover officer that he had gotten work off and was coming up to see her. He arranged a time and place to meet, where police were waiting when he arrived, to take him into custody.
During questioning, Burden reportedly admitted to officers that he had chatted with the undercover officer with the intent to engage in sexual activity. He also downplayed his actions, claiming that he should just be issued a warning or ordered to take a class, according to the affidavit.
Burden is being held in jail without bail. He is scheduled to be sentenced Feb. 1, and could face up to life in prison.
will@cvradio.com