EDISON — An East Brunswick music teacher was convicted today of endangering the welfare of a 9-year-old girl who was his student for private lessons. The jury deliberated over two days before convicting Franklin J. Burr II, 65, but was unable to decide whether he was guilty of sexually assaulting the child by improperly touching her during piano lessons in...
EDISON — An East Brunswick music teacher was convicted today of endangering the welfare of a 9-year-old girl who was his student for private lessons.
The jury deliberated over two days before convicting Franklin J. Burr II, 65, but was unable to decide whether he was guilty of sexually assaulting the child by improperly touching her during piano lessons in Edison between November 2002 and January 2004.
Superior Court Judge Dennis Nieves declared a mistrial on the sexual assault charge. The Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office has not yet decided whether to retry Burr on the charge.
Burr was convicted of both charges in October 2004 and sentenced to six years in state prison, but an appeals court panel overturned the conviction and sentence in 2007, a decision affirmed by the state Supreme Court a year later.The two appellate courts ruled that Burr should have been permitted to present evidence that he suffered from Asperger's Syndrome, a form of autism, in his defense in order to explain his conduct.
Burr was arrested in 2004 after the girl’s mother arrived to pick up the child after a piano lesson and found Burr and the girl close together in a position the woman described as compromising. The girl testified in the first trial that Burr began touching her inappropriately when she was 8 years old.
Burr faces up to five years in prison when he is sentenced for today’s conviction. No sentencing date has yet been set. He remains free on $150,000.
A map view of Edison, where Franklin J. Burr II was previously convicted of sexually assaulting a student. The conviction has been overturned.