Indecent exposure, filming charges could land MS Coast career criminal in prison for life

A Jackson County jury deliberated for about an hour Wednesday before convicting a career criminal from Biloxi of exposing himself to young girls, masturbating in front of them, and violating the privacy of others he filmed without their knowledge in public restrooms and more.

Christopher Carmel Burdine, 36, is facing a sentence of up to life in prison as a habitual offender after the jury found him guilty of three counts of indecent exposure and two counts of filming persons in violation of their privacy, according to a release from Jackson County District Attorney Angel Myers McIlrath.

Burdine will remain in custody until he's sentenced Dec. 4.

Jackson County sheriff's deputies received a report and responded to a St. Martin address on January 4 about Burdine "driving around and masturbating in front of high school girls," a news release from McIlrath's office says. "On a couple of occasions, Burdine pulled up to girls and lured them to his car to ask for directions to the high school. When the girls approached his car, they saw that Burdine was masturbating in plain view."

Sheriff's deputies subsequently arrested Burdine and searched his phone. On the phone, investigators found multiple videos of women using public restrooms. Two of the videos were determined to have been created at a gas station on Tucker Road.

Due to his violent criminal history, Burdine was prosecuted as a "life" habitual offender, meaning that he faces a potential sentence of life in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections without the hope of early release or parole. The case was prosecuted by District Attorney Angel Myers McIlrath and Assistant District Attorney Bill Barrett.

"Christopher Burdine is a sexual predator who rode around our community masturbating and preying on young girls as they walked in their neighborhoods after school, some of whom had just gotten off the school bus," McIlrath said in a news release. ". . . His behavior was escalating, and I am convinced that today's verdict not only delivered justice to the victims in this case but protected the women and children in our community from becoming his victims in the future."