He was trusted to care for kids.
Now, a YMCA teacher's aide is behind bars, accused of sexually violating a 6-year-old girl at a South Bay day camp.
And there are questions about other possible victims.
Twenty-year-old Nicolas Lhermine had been working for a YMCA program in Morgan Hill. Parents are being asked to have a conversation with their children about their experiences at the camp. But it’s not just parents with kids at the Morgan Hill program that need to be concerned: the suspect worked for the Y for four years and may have had contact with hundreds of children.
Dozens of kids attend the YMCA program operated on the campus of Paradise Valley Elementary School in Morgan Hill for summer fun. Now, however, police are investigating what may have happened to a young girl at the school.
"Morgan Hill police officers notified that a 6-year-old female had alleged that Nicolas Lhermine…had forced her to engage in lewd and lascivious acts while she was attending a YMCA childcare program,” said Morgan Hill Police Captain Shane Palsgrove.
Police say, on Friday, Lhermine took the girl to another area on campus, alone. He has been charged with unlawful sexual contact with a child under age 10.
Lhermine was a teacher’s aide who had worked for the Y the past four years.
YMCA officials say Lhermine had completed a background check,
“When was hired to work in licensed childcare, he was screened through the Department of Justice and the FBI,” said Elizabeth Jordan, the COO for YMCA of Silicon Valley.
The YMCA gave a letter to the parents of 45 kids currently enrolled in the summer program.
“As soon as the police told us of they had arrested him, we immediately contacted the parents,” Jordan said. “We’ve been at the site…informing parents of the situation, answering questions, and will continue to be there throughout the week.”
The letter will also be sent to the parents of all children who may have had contact with Lhermine during the past four years.
“We are looking into the possibility of other victims at this time,” said Captain Palsgrove.
So far, there is at least one other victim, a 17-year-old girl.
Lhermine has also been charged with possession of child porn after police found troubling pictures on his cell phone.
Lhermine is set to be arraigned Wednesday afternoon in Morgan Hill.
Anyone with information regarding this incident, or who believes they may also have been a victim of Lhermine, should call Morgan Hill Police Department Detective Burdick at (408) 779-2101 or the anonymous tip line at (408) 947-STOP (7867).
