Palmdale Child Molester Gets Maximum 21-Year Sentence

A former Palmdale City Council candidate, found guilty of molesting two Pacoima-area girls while posing as a child abuse investigator, was sentenced Monday to 21 years and four months in prison.

Richard Russell Burriss, 49, who ran unsuccessfully for City Council in 1986, pleaded for clemency, saying that he deserved a six-year sentence and would seek therapy to rehabilitate himself while behind bars.

But Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Marsha Revel handed down a maximum sentence after an emotional hearing during which the mother of one victim addressed the court.

“I’m very pleased,” Deputy Dist. Atty. Susan Powers said of the sentence. “I think the judge showed the defendant and others . . . we will punish those who try to take advantage of vulnerable children.”

Burriss, a computer analyst, was convicted May 22 of seven counts of lewd acts on a child, three counts of residential burglary and one count of an attempted lewd act on a child.

He was charged with molesting two girls. Strong testimony in the case came from one of the girls, who is now 9. She testified that Burriss told her to take her clothes off and lie on a bed, and that he then fondled her.

The molestations took place in Glendale and Pacoima in 1994.

Burriss took photographs, which were introduced as evidence during the trial, of one of the girls. Police said they found the pictures stored in Burriss’ computer.

The relatives testified that Burriss claimed to be a Children’s Services worker investigating charges of child abuse, and that he threatened to take the girls away if he could not examine them alone.

The relatives said Burriss showed a badge and identification. Prosecutors said the ID was fake.

Burriss was previously charged in 1989 with molesting two other girls. That trial ended with a hung jury. He eventually pleaded no contest to assault in that case and was sentenced to three years probation.