Woman Helps Capture Partner For Child Abuse

2024 Author: Steven Freeman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 08:15

A Washington state couple was arrested after a female passenger on a Southwest Airlines flight from Seattle to San Jose, California, read a text message the man was sending to his girlfriend in which he admitted to sexually abusing children.

Michael Kellar, 56, used a large smartphone to send the compromising message to his partner, Gail Burnworth, from the plane, with the bad luck for them that another passenger managed to take a photo of the screen with the alleged text incriminating.

“The passenger was sitting on the plane and noticed that the size of the phone and the text were very large, so she took a look. That's where he saw texts about children and disturbing scenes,”Seattle Police Department Captain Mike Edwards told People. "That was enough evidence for me to believe that the children were at risk, and that's why he took the pictures."

The passenger then alerted a flight attendant, who in turn alerted the San José authorities, and as soon as the plane landed, the police arrested Kellar.

They later tracked down the messages and located Burnworth, who works as a gas station attendant and was arrested at her home in Tacoma, WA.

The couple, who according to the police report met on a dating website, apparently discussed in text messages their plans to sexually abuse two boys, ages 5 and 7.

"It was clear that the two people were planning to abuse children in the near future," Edwards told the magazine. “It was scheduled to happen in a few days. They are two very disturbed individuals."

Kellar, who remains in the Santa Clara County Jail and will go before a judge next Monday, alleged in his defense that the messages were part of a "fantasy role-playing game" with Burnworth, who has already been released on bail. on charges of sexual exploitation and rape of a child in the first degree.

The investigation, involving the FBI and the federal prosecution, is still in its early stages. Still, according to Edwards, additional charges are expected to be charged against the couple.