Officer engages in sex acts with 15-year-old after agreeing to pay her $100, feds say

A “longtime deputy juvenile officer” met a 15-year-old girl from an Illinois group home online, then took her to his Missouri home to engage in sex acts with her, according to federal authorities. He agreed to pay the “vulnerable” teenager $100.

Now Scott F. Burow, 62, has pleaded guilty to transportation of a minor across state lines to engage in prohibited sexual conduct, according to an Oct. 31 news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Missouri. The charge is a felony.

Where Burow worked as a deputy juvenile officer was not provided in court documents.

In his signed plea agreement, Burow admitted he met the teen through an online dating website designed for adults 18 and up. The teen lived in a group home that supports “children struggling with issues related to attachment and developmental trauma.”

To ensure the girl was not an undercover agent, he had her send him a photo of her face and breasts because “cops wont send nude shots,” according to court records.

“I need security that I ain’t going to be in jail tonight,” he said in a message obtained by federal authorities.

After receiving the photo, Burow picked her up from a park near the children’s home in Quincy, Illinois, on April 2, 2020, according to court records. He drove her to his home in Hannibal, about 20 miles south.

Burow’s defense attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment from McClatchy News on Nov. 1.

Authorities said Burow engaged in sex acts with the teen, and he didn’t use any form of protection. He also secretly recorded the illegal activity, according to his plea agreement.

Then he dropped the girl off at a motel in Palmyra, Missouri, about 15 miles from Quincy, “with little but the clothes on her back,” authorities said. She had no mode of communication with her.

That afternoon, at a nearby gas station, she flagged down Palmyra police officers for help, according to court records.

Burow’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for Feb. 3. He faces up to 20 years in federal prison.

This story was originally published November 1, 2022 at 12:10 PM with the headline "Officer engages in sex acts with 15-year-old after agreeing to pay her $100, feds say."