Probation for Winamac pastor found guilty of battering a child

A former Winamac pastor found guilty earlier this month of battering a child will not be serving jail time.

The sentencing stemmed from an incident caught on camera at the Winamac Nazarene Church daycare in 2023. 

Martin Burns, 49, was found guilty at trial for a felony charge of battery on a person less than 14 years of age, a Level 6 felony. Burns was found not guilty of a second misdemeanor battery charge for causing injury. He was given a suspended sentence of one year and is now on probation. 

Burns was sentenced by a Pulaski County Circuit Court judge on July 18 to one year in jail, with all but time served suspended and to be spent on probation. The sentencing also ordered Burns to complete 100 hours of community service. 

According to a probable cause affidavit, the sentencing stemmed from a video of a daycare student from the Kingdom Kids Daycare at Winamac Nazarene Church allegedly having his chest knelt on by Burns in September 2023. 

The video showed Burns kneeling on a toddler's chest for seven seconds as a way to get the child to let go of his leg. After finally standing up, the video shows Burns allegedly standing over the child, stating "you listen when you're given instructions," before walking away. During an interview with police after the incident, Burns admitted to kneeling on the child, but claimed that he did not bear all his weight on the boy and had used just enough pressure to hold the child down. 

The child seen in the video did not sustain any major injuries, but did complain of chest pain later that evening and was seen crying on the floor alone while holding his chest. The video also showed what appeared to be two other adults in the room, who did not check on the upset child as he cried alone for nearly 10 minutes after the alleged incident. When later interviewed, the two other daycare employees in the room claimed to have not seen the alleged offense occur. The two employees were separately shown the video by police. Court documents stated that one of the employees began crying and became emotional during the interview after watching the video, calling it "crazy."

Defense Attorney Jesse Harper, who represented Burns during the trial, says they are eyeing the possibility of an appeal on the sentencing in the future.