“As anyone can imagine, this news is very upsetting and support services are available to our students, families and staff,” said the NPS communications office in a statement to The Heights. 

Nacht worked for NPS for seven years as the director of special education and assistant director of elementary special education. He stopped working for NPS in 2024.

“Although LinkedIn indicates that Mr. Nacht is a current employee, he has not been employed by NPS since December of 2024 when he subbed for a psychologist on leave,” NPS said. “He has not had access to any district buildings, grounds or digital systems since that time.”

Before his time at NPS, Nacht had roughly 28 years of experience in education, specifically in special education and psychology, according to his LinkedIn profile.

“I’ve always been extremely child-centered, develop as great rapport with teachers, the children and their parents [sic],” Nacht’s LinkedIn reads.

Nacht was first flagged by investigators in December when he began engaging online under the screen name “KinkDaddyinMA,” according to an FBI affidavit filed in court.

The affidavit listed “have you ever been in a real life DD1g dynamic?” meaning “daddy-daughter little girl dynamic” to be one of the many vulgar online messages he sent to the agent whom he believed to be the 13-year-old.

“Mark Nacht advised it is not about her age and would feel more comfortable if she was 16 or 18 so he would not have to worry,” the filing said.

“I want to be clear there is no allegation that Mr. Nacht has ever improperly corresponded or interacted with a child, let alone physically harming one,” Nacht’s lawyer, Andrew Safranko, said in a statement.

Nacht was met by law enforcement in Albany when he believed he was meeting the girl. Law enforcement subsequently secured a confession after reading him his rights. Nacht said to enforcement officers that he knew he would not be let go and that his life was “over,” according to the filing.

“As alleged, Mr. Nacht left his home in Massachusetts to travel to Albany to have sexual contact with an individual he believed to be a minor,” Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Special Agent in Charge Craig Tremaroli said in a statement. “Instead, he found FBI Albany’s Human Trafficking and Child Exploitation Task Force waiting to arrest him.”

This operation was part of the FBI’s Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative aimed at preventing the growing outbreak of child sexual exploitation and abuse by monitoring the internet.

“This arrest should send a clear message that the FBI is committed to aggressively investigating these dangerous predators and ensuring they are held accountable for their disturbing actions,” Tremaroli said.

Additionally, investigators found a bag with children’s socks—a pair he admitted to buying for the 13-year-old—lube, condoms, and a vibrator in his vehicle, according to the affidavit.

“NPS employees are thoroughly background checked before finalizing employment, and the former employee noted in this situation passed all checks and had no history of prior incidents, as far as we knew,” NPS said.

If convicted, Nacht faces a maximum sentence of life in prison, along with a mandatory minimum of 10 years, a $250,000 fine, five years to life of supervised release, and mandatory sex offender registration.

“The district is cooperating fully with authorities,” NPS said. “At this time, law enforcement has not provided any information indicating that Newton Public Schools students were involved or harmed by this individual.”

****

_{This story is from The Heights, an independent, nonprofit newspaper run by Boston College students with which the Newton Beacon has a partnership.}