Indiana sex offender sentenced for molesting Coldwater student

Don Reid, Coldwater Daily Reporter
·1 min read
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BRANCH COUNTY — Convicted Indiana child molester Melvin Andrews Jr., 47, will serve 10 months in the Branch County Jail after he pleaded no contest to fondling a Coldwater school student last November.

The Coldwater Monroe Street resident will be on a mandatory five-year probation. Andrews was convicted of child molestation in 2010 in Steuben County, Indiana, and served almost a decade in prison there.

Branch County prosecutor Zack Stempien told Circuit Judge Bill O’Grady Andrews is on lifetime parole.

"Unfortunately, Indiana doesn't take any action on parolees if they commit a crime in our state. So, they won't be taking any action on him," Stempien said.

The girl told her special education teacher Andrews kissed, hugged and groped her. A counselor was called in along with Coldwater school resource officer Robin Swartz.

Swartz reported that Andrews claimed he was just tickling the girl between her waist and knees.

Andrews provided transportation for the 18-year-old with mental disabilities, according to Stempien. The prosecutor also discovered a prior 2009 charge in Indiana where Andrews was charged with forcing himself on a 15-year-old.

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Public defender Matt Glaser told the judge Andrews was employed full-time and should be spared any jail.

O’Grady imposed the one-year maximum under the Michigan Sentencing Guidelines, but suspended two months so he could get more jail time for any probation violation. The maximum sentence is a two-year high court misdemeanor.

Andrews will remain on the Michigan Sex Offender Registry.

— Contact Don Reid: dReid@Gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter: @DReidTDR

This article originally appeared on Coldwater Daily Reporter: Convicted Indiana sex offender on lifetime parole sentenced to jail for molesting a disabled Coldwater school student.