Hearing postponed for accused YMCA abuser

The YMCA child care employee who is accused of sexually assaulting multiple small children under his care at a Morgan Hill facility appeared briefly in court Tuesday, but the hearing was continued until Feb. 4, 2014.

Nicolas Lhermine, 20 of Morgan Hill, remains in custody at Santa Clara County Jail on charges of 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. 

All the charges are related to five victims identified since his arrest in July, according to authorities. Lhermine is accused of making inappropriate sexual contact with or taking illegal obscene photographs of the victims. 

Lhermine’s hearing at South County Courthouse Tuesday lasted less than two minutes. Lhermine said nothing out loud during the hearing, but consulted quietly with his attorney Riccardo Ippolito before and after the brief proceeding. 

Lhermine’s next hearing is scheduled for Feb. 4, 2014 at South County Courthouse.

Four of the alleged child victims were age 7 or younger at the time of the assaults, and were victimized by Lhermine while they were under his care a child care program at Paradise Valley Elementary School, according to investigators. The child care program was operated by the YMCA, for whom Lhermine worked for four years before his arrest. 

The youngest of the victims is 3 years old, authorities said. 

The fifth alleged victim 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. 

Lhermine was arrested by Morgan Hill police July 12, when a 6-year-old girl under his care at the YMCA program told her parents and investigators that Lhermine forced her to engage in a sex act in the bathroom at the day care site, authorities said. During the initial investigation, police found the pictures of the 17-year-old girl on his phone. 

During a follow-up investigation which included assistance from YMCA staff to reach 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. 

Lhermine faces a maximum sentence of life in prison, according to authorities.

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 and child care at other YMCA facilities – in his four years of employment at the YMCA, according to authorities.