Former South MS police officer who used Snapchat to exploit children is heading to prison

A former South Mississippi law enforcement officer will spend three decades in prison after he pleaded guilty to using social media to entice children for sexual conduct.

Randolph “Randy” Wesley Burge, 45, of Nicholson, pleaded guilty to two counts of child exploitation this month.

Pearl River County Circuit Court Judge Prentiss Harrell sentenced Burge to consecutive 40-year terms, with 15 years to serve, which means he will spend 30 years in prison with no chance of early release or parole. He also must register as a sex offender upon his release.

Burge worked from December 2020 to April 2021 as a part-time officer at the Picayune Police Department, Chief Joe Quave confirmed.

Burge was indicted in 2021 and charged with coercing two 13-year-olds girls to meet him for sexual intercourse in April that year, according to court records. Burge used a Snapchat profile under the name “$ugar Baby $eeker – Picayune” to communicate with the children, a news release from the district attorney’s office said.

“We’re glad that justice was served and that he’s no longer a threat to society,” Quave said Thursday. “It’s an embarrassment to the profession. We hope the rest of his days are spent in prison.”

Burge also previously worked in law enforcement at the Hancock County Sheriff’s Office around the mid-2000s, Cmdr. Kris Robbins said. His employment dates and job title there were not immediately clear.

Arrested again in Louisiana

Burge bonded out of jail after his 2021 arrest.

In April 2024, authorities arrested Burge again in Louisiana for indecent behavior with a juvenile, computer aided solicitation of a minor and obstruction of justice, according to court records.

Burge was arrested in St. Tammany Parish after messaging an undercover agent, who he believed to be a 15-year-old girl, on the social media site Skout, which is often used for human trafficking, the agent alleged in an affidavit.

A user named “Clay Jones” messaged the undercover agent and repeatedly promised to pay her for sexual activity and to “see you naked,” the affidavit says.

“Clay Jones” arranged a meeting in Covington, Louisiana, and told the undercover account he was driving a white truck, the records say. Officers stopped the truck and arrested its driver, who authorities later identified as Burge.

Burge tried to crush the phone he had used to message the undercover agent, the affidavit said. He also allegedly told authorities he was facing similar charges in Mississippi “and that he ‘has a problem.’”

Harrel subsequently revoked Burge’s bond in Pearl River County.

The Pearl River County Sheriff’s Department investigated the 2021 case.

This story was originally published October 24, 2024 at 11:41 AM.