All Traces Of Waterfall Education Center Gone From Downtown Building

This is the empty office in the downtown building on Lincoln Street where John and Marian Burbine once ran the Waterfall Education Center. The business was shut down late this summer after authorities issued a cease and desist order after discovering it was improperly licensed during an investigation into sex abuse allegations against John Burbine.

Once the licensing issues were discovered, authorities were able to secure search warrants for the Burbine's home and business - which set the stage for last Thursday's announcement of numerous indictments against the Burbines stemming from the abuse of 13 children.

The office is on the third floor and is over on the end of the building, somewhat away from the rest of the offices there. No signs or other traces of the business are visible at all. An office directory down in the lobby has nothing listed next to #307 and one or two other vacancies. At this point, prosecutors have not alleged that any abuse actually took place at the office. Instead, much of it was apparently at the homes of the victims.

A man at one of the businesses on the floor noted that much of the TV news media was at the building early Friday morning and said he had always thought Burbine was an off-putting, "sweaty bastard."

A Sunday report on MyFoxBoston noted that Burbine has been moved to the Billerica House of Corrections and that he had worked as an entry-level computer instructor at North Shore Community College for the past few years.

Numerous readers of this website and neighboring Lynnfield Patch have also recalled that at one point in the past, Burbine and his wife worked at the Boston Sports Club in Lynnfield.

For all Wakefield Patch coverage of this issue, please visit our Wakefield Man Accused of Child Sex Crimes topic page