September 1, 2024 - James Alan Burke, Jr. was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment August 29, 2024, in the 273rd Judicial District Court with Judge James A. Payne, Jr presiding.
Burke was present with his attorney Deck Jones and Karren Price, Shelby County District Attorney, as Burke entered a plea of guilty for possession with intent to promote child pornography with previous conviction, 1st degree felony.
Judge Payne sentenced Burke to life imprisonment in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice Institutional Division. For Burke’s jail time in the Shelby County Jail, he received 526 days credit toward his sentence.
Burke also pleaded guilty to two other lesser charges of failure to comply with sex offender registration, third degree felony; and online solicitation of a minor, third degree felony.
The sentences are structured to run consecutively with the life-sentence being followed immediately by the 10-year sentence in the online solicitation of a minor conviction and the 10-year sentence for failure to comply with sex offender registration conviction to immediately start after that sentence is completed.
In court the prosecution stated that as part of the plea agreement it will not seek any further charges from Burke’s phone devices that were taken into evidence by Center Police Department.
According to court documents as part of Burke’s plea agreement on possession with intent to promote child pornography with previous conviction, 1st degree felony, seven other cases were dismissed including three cases of sex offenders duty to register life/annually; and four cases of possession with intent to promote pornography with previous conviction.
Burke was arrested on March 3, 2023, by Center Police Department officers after an undercover operation by “private citizens” revealed Burke’s intent to solicit sex from a 13-year-old girl at a local store in Center after planning online to meet that individual at the store where Burke was working.
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