Norman Merrill II, Possessing Child Sexual Abuse Material, Vermont 2022

Norman Merrill II, a 46-year-old former teacher from Chester, Vermont, has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for possessing child sexual abuse material, also known as child pornography.

According to court records, Merrill was charged after Chester Police Officers received reports of potential voyeurism at his home in May 2022. The investigation revealed that Merrill had placed hidden cameras in the bathrooms of two residences, including one hidden camera placed underneath a bathroom sink, to capture footage of a minor female’s genitalia.

The review of Merrill’s electronic devices also revealed additional misconduct involving children, including a single file depicting the sexual abuse of a child, a file which Merrill did not create. He also had a number of photographs of female children, the faces of which appear to have been clipped and digitally overlaid onto images of adult pornography.

United States District Judge Christina Reiss also ordered Merrill to serve a 10-year term of supervised release after his release from prison, pay $3,750 in restitution, a $5,000 fine, and a $3,000 special assessment to be paid to the Child Pornography Victims Reserve Fund.

The Vermont State Police conducted a preliminary forensic examination of a memory card seized from Merrill’s residence, which revealed numerous voyeuristic videos taken in residential bathrooms. Some of these videos were taken in a bathroom of Merrill’s residence and were determined to depict nude minor children.

The Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) investigation revealed that Merrill had placed hidden cameras in a deliberate effort to obtain video footage of a particular female minor. Merrill possessed screen-captures created from the videos of the minor female, which were intentionally created to focus solely on her genitalia.

United States Attorney Nikolas P. Kerest commended the investigatory efforts of the Chester Police Department, Vermont State Police, and the Department of Homeland Security’s Homeland Security Investigations. Assistant United States Attorney Jonathan Ophardt handled the prosecution. Devin McLaughlin, Esq. represented Merrill.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice.

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