Former Sageville principal pleads guilty to producing child porn

A former Dubuque-area principal pleaded guilty Tuesday in U. S. District Court in Cedar Rapids to producing videos of minors engaged in sexual conduct.

Robert Burke, 43, former Sageville Elementary School principal, pleaded guilty to one count of production of child pornography. He was originally charged with seven charges, including possessing, receiving and distributing child pornography.

Burke admitted in court to installing a hidden camera in the boy's restroom at the school and using the recordings to produce child pornography, which he distributed on the Internet.

According to the indictment, Burke videotaped boys, including some younger than 12 years old, using the bathroom sometime between January and June 3.  The videos exposed the student's genitals. The videos were then saved on hard drives at Burke's home.

After the hearing, Mark Brown, Burke's attorney, declined to reveal how many children had been videotaped, but did say this was the best outcome for Burke because the other six charges will be dismissed. The hearing was delayed from Monday because he wanted to make sure Burke understood one element of the offense, he said.

Burke faces 15 to 30 years in federal prison and a maximum fine of $250,000.

Burke, Sageville principal since 2004, was arrested in June after federal agents searched his home in Dubuque and found images showing minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct, according to the criminal complaint. Burke then admitted to investigators he installed a hidden camera in the boys' restroom at Sageville.

According to the complaint, Burke said he never touched any children in a sexual manner.