May 27, 2014 -- San Jose, CA -- A sexual abuse lawsuit claims that the YMCA of Silicon Valley illegally provided accused child molester Nicolas Lhermine with unsupervised access to young children leading to the sexual molestation of a 6 year old.
Attorneys Robert Allard and Lauren Cerri of the San Jose, CA law firm of Cerri, Boskovich & Allard have filed a sexual abuse lawsuit against the YMCA of Silicon Valley (Santa Clara County Case #114CV265774) alleging that the YMCA enabled accused child molester Nicolas Lhermine by illegally affording him unsupervised access to young children, leading directly to the sexual molestation of then six year old Jane Doe.
The lawsuit alleges that the YMCA violated state law by failing to ensure that Lhermine only worked under the direct supervision of a qualified teacher and that he was never left alone with children. According to the Complaint, Lhermine was repeatedly allowed to supervise children alone in violation of California regulations and the YMCA’s own internal policies.
The lawsuit states that Lhermine took advantage of being left unsupervised with 15-20 children on the afternoon of July 12, 2013 at the YMCA’s Paradise Valley Center and proceeded to take Jane Doe into the bathroom alone where he then instructed her to close her eyes and open her mouth before sexually molesting her. According to the Complaint, Lhermine was left alone with Jane Doe and other young children that afternoon while the supervising teacher was performing housekeeping duties instead of supervising Lhermine as required to by law. The law is intended to protect children by prohibiting supervising teachers from performing housekeeping duties that detract from their supervisory responsibilities.
The complaint further states that the YMCA violated the law by failing to provide a fully qualified teacher to maintain responsibility for the overall operation of the facility under the direction and supervision of the director of the child care center. The State of California’s Community Care Licensing division had previously fined the YMCA for numerous violations.
The lawsuit alleges that, prior to the July 12, 2013 molestation, several employees of the Mt. Madonna YMCA complained on numerous occasions about the lack of legally appropriate staffing levels. The complaints were ignored and the complaining employees were terminated from their employment with the YMCA approximately six weeks prior to Jane Doe being molested. On May 16, 2014, three of these former employees of the YMCA Mt. Madonna filed a wrongful termination and whistle blower retaliation lawsuit (Santa Clara County Case # CV265424) against the YMCA.
The YMCA of Silicon Valley is responsible for the administration of 12 Association Centers in the area including the Mt. Madonna YMCA. These entities operated the YMCA – Paradise Valley summer child care day camp on the premises of Paradise Valley Elementary School in Morgan Hill. The lawsuit claims that Lhermine was hired as an aide in February of 2011.
The lawsuit also states that Lhermine had taken a photograph of a 5 year old’s genitalia with his cell phone the same day that Jane Doe was molested, and that Lhermine sexually abused two other children, aged 7 and 3, respectively, the day before he molested Jane Doe.
According to Jane Doe’s attorney, Robert Allard, the case against the YMCA has many similarities to other recent cases such as the case brought against Child Development, Inc. resulting from the sexual abuse by Keith Woodhouse (Santa Clara County Case #112CV221574). According to Mr. Allard, “Even though other similarly situated daycare providers have been held publicly accountable for their actions, the YMCA did not hear the message. The law is quite clear in that an aide must work under the direct supervision of a qualified teacher and must never be left alone with children. Based on our investigation, Nicolas Lhermine was given routine and unfettered access to children alone, allowing him to molest children at a daycare center. We intend to hold the YMCA fully accountable for failing to follow the law and protect children from a pedophile.”
Childhood sexual abuse studies show that 1 in 4 women and 1 in 6 men were sexually abused before the age of 18, meaning that there are more than 42 million adult survivors of child sexual abuse in the United States. The most vulnerable ages for children to be exposed to sexual assault appears to be the ages from three to eight years of age, with the majority onset of abuse happening between these ages. Experts believe that the younger the sexual abuse victim is, the greater the damage that will result in adulthood.
“Working with CBA has been a truly remarkable experience. They exude genuineness, openness, and transparency, transforming a challenging situation into a positive one. Lauren, in particular, consistently displayed empathy, ensuring a comfortable and safe environment throughout.”
“Every step of the way, Lauren gave me hope when I felt hopeless, and she gave me help when I felt helpless. Lauren was the attorney who I knew was in my corner, and she will undoubtedly continue to be in the corner of survivors to hold their abuser and institution accountable.”
“What happened to me needed to be addressed. I missed out on such an important part of my life, while my institution made no qualms. You don’t get to push kids under a rug. I’m glad I was given an opportunity to address my broken life.”