A Preble County man pleaded not guilty Tuesday to 36 counts of child pornography. Martin Burnett entered the plea at his arraignment this afternoon.

A judge set his trial for April 22. According to the Preble County Sheriff Mike Simpson, Burnett is accused of possessing child pornography and allegedly using it in stories he was writing.

Sheriff Simpson said Martin R. Burnett, 52, of 78 W. Lakengren Drive, took his computer to a local repair business Jan. 8.

When told it had a bad hard drive, Burnett asked for files on it to be put on discs to be loaded onto a new computer, according to Eaton Municipal Court records.

In addition to child pornography, the computer allegedly contained stories written by Burnett that included pornographic images of children in sex acts. The business’ legal counsel alerted law enforcement officials.

A search warrant was executed on Burnett at his place of employment Jan. 23, where he confirmed the personal computer was his and “generally confirmed that any such images located were his and his alone,”

according to the court records. He accompanied officers to his residence for execution of the warrant.

Simpson said the computer contained several inappropriate images.

“From what we’ve seen … it appears to be materials downloaded from the internet,” Simpson said.

Other multimedia storage devices were seized, and records indicate they included images of children, nude and engaged in sexual acts or conduct. Some were infants and toddlers, according to court records.

“Burnett was found to have written sexualized child pornographic (short) stories which often contained nude children or photoshopped images involving unknown or known children,

as well as other stories (sometimes 40-70 pages long) which would contain adult and child pornographic images with captions created by Burnett …,” records state.

Burnett’s bond was set at $20,000. He posted 10 percent and was released, according to records.

A preliminary hearing is set for Wednesday, though a grand jury is currently considering charges.