Burbine Pleads Not Guilty to Charges in Essex County

Accused child molester John Burbine has pleaded not guilty to charges of Rape of a Child and Indecent Assault and Battery on a child under 14 in Essex County.

Early Wednesday, a not guilty plea was entered on Burbine's behalf in Salem Superior Court and he was ordered held without bail. These charges were filed after a male accuser came forward with allegations against Burbine shortly after learning of his arrest late last year. He has been held at the Billerica House of Correction since around that time.

A spokeswoman for the Essex County DA's office, Carrie Kimball-Monahan, told Wakefield Patch that this accuser is a male and that his allegations against Burbine cover a four-year span back in the early 1990s. The next Essex County court date for Burbine is a June 5th pre-trial conference.

On Tuesday, Burbine was in Middlesex Superior Court in Woburn with his attorney for a motion to dismiss eight of the 100 child sex abuse counts he is facing in that jurisdiction. His next court date in Woburn is June 19th for an expected ruling on the defense motion.

Burbine's wife, Marian, is also awaiting trial on six counts of reckless endangerment of a child for operating an improperly licensed day care business that he worked at. Burbine had apparently been a Level 1 sex offender since about 1989 - and since his arrest, legislators have begun working on proposals that include making more information about Level 1 offenders public.

For all Patch coverage of the allegations against John and Marian Burbine, please visit this topic page.