SALT LAKE CITY — A captain of the Salt Lake City Fire Department has been arrested on suspicion of sexual abuse.
SLCFD said Wednesday that there were "allegations of misconduct of one of our firefighters/employees" and said the "employee in question" was placed on administrative leave.
The next day, the Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office announced six 2nd-degree felony charges of forcible sexual abuse against Christopher David Burk, along with a 3rd-degree charge of attempted forcible sexual abuse.
Burk, a 46-year-old Herriman resident, was a captain for the SLCFD and an EMT class instructor at Salt Lake Community College.
According to the charges, Burk inappropriately touched two different victims who were in his class. Much of the alleged abuse took place outside of class — including asking one to stay after class for one-on-one instruction and inviting the other on a ride-along. The victims said Burk would grope them while claiming he was demonstrating techniques. They said he also asked them to touch him in order to show the location of the femoral artery (which is in the groin area).
Detectives spoke with multiple employees of the SLCC EMT program, who confirmed that much of what Burk allegedly did was outside of the curriculum or even against policy.
Court documents also stated that Burk was also an employee of a local juvenile detention facility.
Salt Lake County Jail records show that he was booked on Wednesday but released Friday, despite prosecutors' request to deny bail. The jail roster did not include the reason for his release.
