LA County Man Groomed Girls As 'Sex Slaves' For Other Men: FBI

LOS ANGELES, CA — A man who posed as a fitness instructor online as part of an effort to recruit underage girls to his "sex slave training program" and enlist them for prostitution remains behind bars after pleading not guilty this month to three federal sex crimes, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

John Douglas Burch, 54, of Santa Monica, on March 1 pleaded not guilty to enticing a minor to engage in sexually explicit content, enticing a minor to engage in prostitution, and traveling to engage in illicit sexual conduct, court documents show.

The charges stem from a grand jury indictment handed down in January in federal court in Pennsylvania. But federal law enforcement believe there may be more victims across the country that have not yet been identified and are urging them to come forward, the FBI said.

Burch is accused of using social media platforms, where he often posed as a fitness instructor, to target girls, but sometimes women, and pressured them to partake in his "sex slave training program," the FBI said in a news release.

"This 'training' included, among other things, the requirement that females listen to explicit and sexually-charged audio recordings, watch violent pornography, create pornographic images and videos and transmit the content to him over the internet, the creation of online dating profiles designed to encourage sexual encounters and commercial sex, step-by-step instructions to perform specific sexual acts to be carried out during these meetings, documentation of these meetings via photos and videos," the FBI wrote.

"The FBI believes that once the victim was 'trained' to Burch's liking, he would meet the victim in person and force her to partake in illegal and non-consensual sexual acts," the FBI wrote.

Among the specific allegations in the case is that Burch met a 13- or 14-year-old Pennsylvania girl in 2014 via webcam platform Omegle and "groomed her to become his sex slave," Philadelphia's 6 ABC reported.

After that, he directed the girl to a mall where she would meet Burch's 'clients' — which included about a dozen men over three years — and engage in sex acts with them under Burch's instructions, the station reported.

Burch used a number of handles online, including Just 9x6.5a, Mr. Bigc0ck, Mstr_Trainer, food_is_not_enemy and Notyourfitguru, according to the FBI.

More information about the case, including how potential victims can contact investigators, is available on the FBI's website.