Police: Newburyport man exposed himself to cleaning staff

Dave Rogers, The Daily News of Newburyport, Mass.
·2 min read

Apr. 20—NEWBURYPORT — A Bayberry Road man charged with exposing himself to two women cleaning his home in October was ordered by a judge to stay away from them, according to court records.

David G. Sweeney, 53, was charged in October with two counts of open and gross lewdness and arraigned the following month in Newburyport District Court.

Sweeney appeared in court Friday and admitted a judge or jury could find him guilty and saw the charges continued without a finding for a year.

During that time, Sweeney must stay away from the two women and all witnesses. Judge Jane Prince also ordered him to stay out of trouble with the law. If he complies with all of Prince's orders, the charges would be dropped after a year.

Newburyport police Officer Travis Wile responded to Sweeney's Bayberry Road home on Oct. 8 about 9:15 a.m. and spoke to one of the women, who appeared "very shaken up" outside the house.

The woman told Wile that as she and another woman were cleaning an open sliding door, they saw Sweeney masturbating in his connecting garage.

The woman said she had been cleaning Sweeney's home since 2015 without incident, until a month earlier when she and a different assistant saw Sweeney doing the same thing in the garage while they were cleaning, according to Wile's report.

"She never reported it to the police because she did not want to get anyone in trouble, and was hoping that it was a one time thing. However, when she observed David today, she realized it wasn't a one time thing," Wile wrote in his report.

Wile and Officer Robert Vatcher spoke to Sweeney a short time later. Wile told them he knew why they wanted to speak to him and was very embarrassed. He told the officers that he did not think anyone could see him.

Wile pointed out that he would have avoided the situation if the sliding door had been closed.

"David responded by saying he had the door open to let some fresh air in," Wile wrote in his report.

Police soon learned that, according to Sweeney's wife, he should not have been home while the cleaners were at the house.

"Which makes it seem David intentionally came home while the cleaners were at the house," Wile added.

Staff writer Dave Rogers can be reached at drogers@newburyportnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @drogers41008