Man pleads, sentenced in child sex abuse case

(Franklin, GA) — A man arrested and charged in a child sex abuse case last year entered a plea and was sentenced to prison in Heard County Superior Court.

26-year-old Chad Dwayne Burke was arrested in August of 2015 for allegedly abusing a female child between the ages of 9-11 in Heard County between June of 2013 and August of 2015.

Chad Dwayne Burke

The child was a relative of Burke’s live-in girlfriend at the time.

Burke entered a Guilty-Alford Plea on one count of Child Molestation and was sentenced before Coweta Circuit Judge Dustin W. Hightower on August 25.

An Alford plea is not an admission of guilt, but the defendant acknowledges there is enough evidence against him or her to be convicted.

Burke received a sentence of 20 years with 10 to be served in prison and 10 to be served on probation.

Upon leaving prison, Burke will be required to register as a sex offender as well as honor many other special probation requirements including agreeing to zero contact with the victim or the victim’s family.

Burke’s home at the time of his arrest on August 19, 2015 was reported as Jacksonville, Alabama.

He was arrested at his place of employment by Talladega County Sheriff’s Office on August 19, 2015 and returned to the custody of the Heard County Sheriff’s Office on August 21, 2015.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Sarah Japour of the Coweta Judicial Circuit.