Former Dubuque principal pleads not guilty

The former principal of an elementary school in Dubuque pleaded not guilty Wednesday afternoon to charges that he produced, distributed, received and possessed child pornography by, among other things, secretly filming boys using the bathroom at his school.

Robert Burke, 43, was arrested June 3 after law enforcement agents raided his home in Dubuque and found images showing minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct. An FBI agent identified Burke as a suspect after downloading images of child pornography that were later traced to Burke's home.

Burke then told investigators that he installed a hidden camera in the boys' restroom at Sageville Elementary School, where he had been principal since 2004, to produce “video images of students who were using the bathroom,” according to a complaint.

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

An indictment superseding the original charge was filed Tuesday alleging that, between January and June, Burke used minors to produce visual depictions of their genitals without their knowledge. The new indictment also alleges that Burke received depictions of child pornography on the Internet, distributed child pornography and possessed four hard drives containing child pornography.

Burke, who appeared with his attorney Mark Brown in federal court in Cedar Rapids at noon wearing an orange jumpsuit and looking somber, pleaded not guilty to the new charges and expressed his intent to proceed to trial on Aug. 8.

Brown told the judge there is a chance his client will agree to a deal that will keep the case from reaching trial, saying negotiations are planned and a possible disposition is in the works.

But, Brown said, the case is moving forward right now.

If Burke wants to take advantage of the sentencing benefits that come with accepting responsibility and pleading guilty, he must do so no later than July 25 -- less than two weeks from today -- a judge reminding him.

If convicted, Burke faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison and a possible maximum sentence of 110 years in prison, along with $1.75 million in fines and a supervised release after prison for at least five years or as long as life.

A day after Burke's arrest, the Dubuque Community School Board

voted unanimously to fire Burke as principal of Sageville.