Tamaqua man sentenced to probation after pleading guilty to corruption of minors

A 40-year-old Tamaqua man charged with inappropriately touching the then-15-year-old girl he hung out with was sentenced to three years on probation.

Schuylkill County Judge James P. Goodman on Nov. 20 imposed Adam Burne’s punishment.

He also ordered Burne to have no contact with the girl.

Burne on Sept. 13 pleaded guilty to corruption of minors.

A charge of indecent assault of a person under age 16 was dropped in the negotiations.

The plea was entered exactly one year after police filed the charges.

Goodman had ordered a presentence investigation before deciding Burne’s penalty.

The case unfolded when the girl and her father contacted police on Sept. 19, 2016.

The girl told them Burne had touched her inappropriately.

They were friends who “hung around together a lot,” but about three weeks prior, she had told him she didn’t want to spend time with him anymore.

On Sept. 16, 2016, they were both with a group of friends when he touched her.

He was also following her around and sitting outside her house, making her afraid, according to an affidavit of probable cause.

Her father told officers he was aware that Burne liked to “slap his daughter on the butt.”

But he never reported the behavior to authorities. Instead, after an incident in which he suspected Burne of stealing the child’s underwear, he told Burne to stay away from his house.