DA: Burrell Twp. man suspected of making child porn

A retired Armstrong County truck driver accused of possessing more than 1,000 images of child pornography is suspected of manufacturing child porn, the district attorney said Friday.

John Joseph Burke, 64, of Burrell Township, who was described by officials as a significant child pornographer, faces more than 2,000 charges relating to child pornography, Armstrong County District Attorney Scott Andreassi said.

"It appears Mr. Burke not only possessed this pornography but likely engaged in manufacturing," Andreassi said at a news conference yesterday.

Burke was arrested after a call to police last week from a person working on Burke's trailer home on Cherry Run Road.

Police said they executed a search warrant at the home on Sept. 7 and discovered 57 pornographic items, A second search Thursday yielded more than 1,000 items, they said.

Also seized from the home were computers, photographs, CDs, DVDs and VHS tapes, Andreassi said.

Investigators will continue to try to determine where they came from, where they were made and if the children can be identified. Anyone with information is asked to call state police at 724-543-2011.

The children in the confiscated images appeared to be between the ages of 8 and 11, Andreassi said.

The acts depicted in the photographs are "just about everything you can imagine and that's what makes this so troubling," he said. "For this county, it's the largest case of this type we've ever seen."

State police Lt. Tom Dubovi said Burke was a truck driver for 30 years.

"We're trying to reach out to some other states where his routes took him, to identify where he was and if they had any incidents similar to this in those areas," he said.