Manheim Township High School teacher charged with sending nude photos to undercover police posing as juvenile, possessing child pornography

A Manheim Township High School teacher has been charged today with hoarding dozens of images and videos of child pornography on his phone, all of which were found during an investigation of him sending nude pictures of himself to what he believed was a 14-year-old girl.

David Sean Burkhart, of the 700 block of Scott Lane in Warwick Township, was charged with three counts of sexual abuse of children, one count of unlawful contact with a minor and two counts of criminal use of a communication facility.

Burkhart, 45, is accused of exchanging sexually charged messages with what he believed was a 14-year-old girl, but was in fact two undercover police officers in Camden County, N.J.

The undercover officers first encountered Burkhart online in May. Burkhart, who identified himself as a high school teacher who previously served as a girls’ basketball coach, quickly turned the conversation in a sexual direction, sending nude pictures of himself and commenting on “checking out” young girls in his classroom.

Police seized Burkhart’s phone while executing a search warrant at the school in early September, uncovering dozens of images and videos depicting nude juveniles engaging in indecent contact with themselves and others. One of the images, depicting five nude juveniles, was created using generative artificial intelligence.

In a preliminary arraignment this morning Judge Courtney Monson set Burkhart’s bail at $25,000 unsecured. Burkhart is currently free on that amount.

As a condition of his bail Burkhart is not allowed to use social media or to have any contact with children or the victims.

Manheim Township Police Det. Nicholas Fritz filed the charges.

Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Ponessa will prosecute the case.

All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.