Man convicted for lewd misconduct in Needham
A former Needham Youth Center staffer and Sharon middle school math teacher was convicted and sentenced March 20 for lewd misconduct with a developmentally disabled man he met through his community work.
<span style="">Andrew Merck, 32, was accused of twice taking of his clothes, touching himself and then prompting a developmentally disabled man to take off his clothes at the victim's Medfield apartment and at an "out of the way location" in Needham in 2003, according to David Traub, spokesman for the Norfolk County District Attorney's office</span>.
"[The victim] was in his 20s and was certainly not a middle school student or serviced [at the Needham Youth Center]," Traub said.
Although Merck met the victim through his work at the Needham Youth Center and at a summer camp, none of the incidents took place at a Needham Youth Center event, Traub said. He further noted the victim did not have any involvement with the Sharon Middle School, where Merck worked as a math teacher at the time.
Although the incidents took place in 2003, they were not reported to police until early 2007.
"Merck is no longer involved with the Needham Youth Center," said Trish Lincoln, a board member of the Needham Youth Center. "A couple of years ago, he was one of the staff members at Youth Center events, but nothing happened at a Youth Center event."
Merck was found guilty after a three-day trial at Dedham District Court, after which Judge Mary Hogan Sullivan sentenced him to two years in jail. Merck must serve the first year of the sentence, with the second year suspended for five years. On the second count, Merck was sentenced to five years of probation after serving his jail sentence.
Merck must register as a sex offender and would not be allowed to work with children for five years. During that time, he cannot have any unsupervised contact with a person under 18. <span style="">He must also submit a DNA sample to be added to the state's DNA database.</span>
<span style="">He began serving his sentence on March 20.</span>
<span style="">Merck is a graduate of Framingham State College, according to a 2003 Mathematics Department newsletter.</span>
Steven Ryan can be reached at <u><span style="color: blue;">sryan@cnc.com.</span></u>