- A jury found ex-fire Capt. Christopher Burk guilty of sexual abuse.
- Burk was convicted of eight counts of forcible sexual abuse against EMT students.
- Sentencing is set for April 14 following a three-day trial and deliberation.
SALT LAKE CITY — A former captain with the Salt Lake City Fire Department who also taught paramedic classes has been convicted of sexually abusing multiple women who were students.
A jury on Friday found Christopher David Burk, 47, of Herriman, guilty of eight counts of forcible sexual abuse, a second-degree felony, and one count of attempted forcible sexual abuse, a third-degree felony. He was found not guilty on five additional counts of forcible sexual abuse.
"We appreciate the finding of guilt in the majority of the charges in this trial. This defendant abused his position of trust as an EMT teacher to assault multiple students in his class. Though we are disappointed that the jury did not find the defendant guilty on all counts, we appreciate their thoughtful consideration of the facts," said Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill.
A total of seven women took the witness stand during Burk's three-day trial.
"We hope that all the victim-survivors in this case understand that the jury's verdict does not diminish their experiences, nor the harm it brought to them," Gill said in a statement. "We appreciate the dedication of our prosecutors to this case as the number of victim-survivors increased as more women came forward with allegations against the defendant."
Burk was originally accused of abusing two students when he was first charged in January 2025. Additional charges were filed against him a month later.
Courtney Johns, KSLHe was hired as a basic EMT certification class instructor at Salt Lake Community College in the summer of 2024 and went on to teach CPR and EMT certification classes at Utah Valley University, Canyons Technical Education Center and a fire station in Sugar House.
According to his charges, Burk "used his position of trust as a paramedic instructor and firefighter at a local station to prey upon the victims. (He) sexually assaulted the victims under the guise of demonstrating assessments, some of which were not part of the curriculum."
The women testified that they were inappropriately touched by Burk while he demonstrated how to perform certain medical assessments and procedures.
The jury reached its decisions after approximately 12 hours of deliberation. Burk is scheduled for sentencing on April 14.
