Monthly Archives: September 2014

The arraignment for a Morgan Hill man charged with sexually assaulting four young children under his care at a YMCA facility on a local elementary school campus was continued at South County Courthouse, according to authorities. Nicolas Lhermine, 21 of Morgan Hill, is now scheduled to be arraigned Sept. 25, according to Santa Clara County Deputy District Attorney Stuart Scott. The arraignment follows a preliminary hearing on Lhermine’s case in August, in which a Superior Court judge determined prosecutors have enough evidence to put him on a trial before a jury. Lhermine faces a maximum penalty of life in prison on the charges he sexually assaulted the children, the oldest of whom was 7 years old. He is charged with lewd and lascivious acts with a child younger than 12, oral copulation on a child younger than 10, possession of child pornography and production of child pornography. He pleaded not guilty to the charges at a hearing in March.Lhermine is accused of assaulting the children at a daycare center run by the YMCA on the campus of Paradise Valley Elementary School in southwest Morgan Hill, according to authorities. He was arrested by Morgan Hill police July 12, 2013, and authorities think he victimized the children in the preceding weeks. A fifth alleged victim in the wide-ranging case is a 17-year-old girl of whom investigators found nude pictures on Lhermine’s mobile phone, according to police. The girl was not affiliated with the YMCA program, but Lhermine knew her.Police arrested Lhermine after a 6-year-old girl under his care at the YMCA program told her parents and investigators that he forced her to engage in inappropriate contact in the bathroom of the daycare site, authorities said. During the initial investigation, police found the pictures of the 17-year-old girl. During a follow-up investigation that included assistance from YMCA staff who reached out to the parents of all children who had ever been under Lhermine’s care at the YMCA, authorities identified three more alleged female victims - ages 3, 5 and 7 at the time of the incidents, police said.The suspect worked as a child care aide at the YMCA day care facility during the alleged assaults and has held numerous positions—including youth soccer coach—in his four years of employment at the YMCA, according to authorities.

LAFAYETTE, INDIANA—A smile creeps across Makaio Duyao’s face when he recalls playing in the Colt World Series and it gets a little bigger when the game’s final inning is mentioned.

Like many parents in South Valley, I have spent the last few weeks preparing for back to school. Only this time, I was preparing to send the kid off to the brave new world of adulthood known as college. Yeah. I’m not handling it well, if you want to know the truth. In fact, I spent most of the summer insisting we all do things together for the “last time.” Visit grandparents. Go on vacation. Eat at Five Guys. (What? It’s a special place for us.)

Two quick notes before I begin. A reader informed me ahi poke, the subject of my last article, was not available at the Gilroy Costco. Upon contacting Costco, I discovered my error; the San Jose and Santa Clara locations carry ahi poke, where I made my purchase. I shop three Costco stores and inadvertently confused where I saw ahi poke. If enough people request a product at Costco, they may stock it. I apologize for any confusion. If you head to the north valley to purchase ahi poke, call ahead to make sure the store has it in stock.

Friends and family are still shocked by the loss of Morgan Hill resident Jason McArthur, 34, who died in a traffic accident Aug. 30 after his vehicle was struck by a suspected drunken driver during the Labor Day weekend. The accident also placed McArthur’s fiancée, Kendra Jones, 42 of Morgan Hill, in a San Jose hospital in critical condition with numerous “major injuries,” according to police. The couple had just become engaged to be married Aug. 22.Friends of Jones’ family set up a fundraising account at gofundme.com to help with Jones’ medical expenses and care for her two youngest daughters, according to Jones’ son, Jesse Marshall. Jones remained in intensive care as of Sept. 3, but she is expected to make a “full physical recovery,” Marshall said. When the accident happened, the couple were returning from the home of one of McArthur’s relatives, where they had been making wedding plans, Marshall said. McArthur was a steadfast, loving and positive influence for Jones and her family, Marshall said. He was a mentor for her two youngest daughters—whom he considered his own children—helping them with school work and encouraging them to play sports.“He stepped in and was the best thing that ever happened to my family,” Marshall said. “He was very involved in and insistent on my sisters’ productivity and school work. I don’t know what I would have done the last year without him. He was a huge support system.”The driver who struck McArthur’s Jeep Wrangler in the accident is in custody at Santa Clara County Jail in lieu of $250,000 bail, according to Santa Clara County Deputy District Attorney Steve Lowney. Raymond Escudero, IV, 24 of San Martin, was arrested shortly after the accident by California Highway Patrol officers on suspicion of driving while intoxicated. His first court appearance was scheduled for Sept. 4 at South County Courthouse in Morgan Hill. As of the Times’ deadline Sept. 3, Lowney did not know what charges are pending against Escudero. Police say McArthur was driving his Jeep northbound on Santa Teresa Boulevard, just south of Native Dancer Drive, when his vehicle was struck by an Acura driven by Escudero, also traveling north. Both vehicles lost control after the initial collision. McArthur was pronounced dead at the scene. Jones, his passenger, was transported to the hospital. Escudero was uninjured, and his passenger, a 23-year-old San Martin woman, was transported to the hospital with minor injuries, according to authorities. The accident happened about 1 a.m. Aug. 30. The cause of the accident is still under investigation.Jones suffered numerous fractured bones and internal injuries, Marshall said. She has endured three surgeries since the accident. A photo on the newly created fundraising website shows a photograph of the smiling couple at the beach the day after McArthur proposed—“obviously on one of the happiest days...we have all had together,” said Jones’ daughter Britiny Marshall.Under the photo is a message that reads in part, “We are asking for your help in donating to help the families with medical bills and general needs for Kendra's two young daughters.”As of Sept. 3, the page gofundme.com/dxsumw had raised more than $5,000 from 49 individual donations. The site has been shared extensively through social media since it went live earlier this week.Labor Day is annually a busy weekend for traffic congestion, accidents and DUI related injuries and deaths. During the annual “Avoid the 13” summertime DUI crackdown from Aug. 15 to Sept. 1, law enforcement agencies throughout Santa Clara County arrested 302 motorists on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, according to Sheriff’s Sgt. Kurtis Stenderup. “The enforcement was part of the national ‘Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over’ campaign to save lives and make our roads safer,” Stenderup said in a press release. 

GILROY—The big swings from Ally Foster and Olivia Tabron had Christopher fans going wild, but there was another Cougar in the middle that made her presence known Tuesday night: Khaya Price.

The Gilroy Police Department, in cooperation with the Santa Clara County Department of Public Health, conducted a sting operation Aug. 29 to check whether local tobacco retailers would sell to minors. Of the 26 businesses checked-23 or 88 percent-refused to sell tobacco to minors, while three retailers sold to underage decoys, police said.

Developers are footing the bill for a variety of local traffic improvements, including the recent installation of Gilroy's first roundabout and the addition of left-turn signals to some of city's busier intersections.