Daycare worker to remain in jail; more charges expected

Scott Sonner

Friday, March 2, 2001 | 1:36 a.m.

RENO, Nev. - A daycare worker who allegedly admitted molesting 27 toddlers will remain in jail until a bail hearing next week as prosecutors consider filing additional criminal charges.

Gary Hanneman, 33, who was arrested Feb. 23, already faces 10 counts of sexual assault and pornography-related charges. Eight of those charges carry maximum penalties of life in prison.

"New evidence is coming in every day," Deputy District Attorney Cheryl Hier-Johnson said Friday.

"There already have been admissions of up to 27," she said. She said she would wait until the criminal investigation is complete before amending the original complaint with additional charges.

Hier-Johnson went to Reno Justice Court on Friday to try to raise Hanneman's bail from $100,000 to $250,000. But Judge Fidel Salcedo said there wasn't time in his calendar for a bail hearing and ordered the matter continued until Wednesday. A preliminary hearing tentatively was set for March 15.

Hanneman's lawyer, David Houston, agreed Hanneman would remain in jail and that no one would try to free him on bail before Wednesday's hearing.

The 10 counts filed so far involve just two children, two boys younger than 4. The allegations include acts of oral sex and penetration.

Prosecutors say Hanneman told them he tried to stop himself numerous times but could not overcome a compulsion to commit the acts. He told investigators he did not intend to hurt the children.

The evidence indicates he was motivated by a "fetish for human excrement," Hier-Johnson said Friday.

Investigators are reviewing more than 500 videotapes confiscated from Hanneman's home, which they say show him committing sex acts.

While they have evidence on tape, detectives say they have been surprised by the lack of cooperation from some of the toddlers and their parents.

Deputy Chief Jim Weston said that while some parents from Children City Learning Center are worried, others are angry that police have identified Hanneman, the toddler coordinator, as a suspect.

"We are quite shocked at the responses of some of the parents," Weston told the Reno Gazette-Journal. "Some of that is part of the classic pedophile building trust. But even in the face of this evidence, they still stand up for him."

Police also have run into hostile children who don't understand why their teacher is in jail.

"We had a 4-year-old kid that said I'm not talking to you, because you put Gary in jail," Weston told the newspaper. "You can understand with the kids. All they know is their favorite guy, the one who took care of them, is in jail and police did it."

In one incident, a mother brought her child to the Washoe County Jail and told staff her child attended the day-care center and wanted to visit Hanneman, Weston said. Another woman fired off an angry e-mail to the sergeant in charge of the Sex Crimes Unit, Weston said.