Former suburban youth pastor sentenced to prison for possession of child porn
SOUTH HOLLAND, Ill. - A former Chicago area youth pastor will spend years in prison for child pornography.
Michael Burke was convicted of looking at it through an app.
"It’s surprising when it’s a youth pastor, but unfortunately this activity is spread across multiple walks of life," said Homeland Security Special Agent Steven Moran.
Moran wants parents and children to know that child predators can lurk among some of society’s most trusted people.
Case in point: 35-year-old Michael Adam Burke, who recently pled guilty to possession of child pornography and has been sentenced to 5.5 years in federal prison.
Burke had worked for several years as a youth pastor at the Church of Christ in South Holland until the online messaging company Kik notified federal officials that he was receiving and sending images of child porn.
"When you see someone in a position of public trust who has access to children, especially as part of their career, that definitely escalates things, and that’s when things really picked up for us to move on this as fast as we could," Moran said.
Burke was also ordered to pay $45,000 to the 18 children that were identified in the pictures he sent and received.
Authorities say there is no evidence that Burke interacted with any of the children or committed any illegal acts with children he pastored at the church.
If you know of a possible victim, or someone in possession of child pornography, Homeland Security investigators have established a tip line (866-347-2423) and a program called I-Guardian to educate both children and parents about online dangers.
"A lot of parents don’t know about these different applications, so we try to educate the parents as well, into having that conversation with their children," Moran said.