Some parents defending daycare worker accused of sexual abuse

Scott Sonner

Friday, March 2, 2001 | 4:22 a.m.

RENO, Nev. - Videotapes and other evidence continue to mount against a daycare worker who allegedly admitted molesting 27 toddlers, but some parents still defend the suspect as a loving caregiver, police said Friday.

Gary Hanneman, 33, will remain in jail until a bail hearing Wednesday as prosecutors consider filing additional criminal charges, a judge decided Friday.

Hanneman, 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. Hier-Johnson said she would wait until the criminal investigation is complete before amending the original complaint with additional charges.

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

"It's a little different than the typical rapist that goes out and hurts people and commits sexual assaults," Reno Deputy Police Chief Jim Weston said.

"Pedophiles often like the kids and in their own mind, they don't want to hurt them. They think the relationship is good," he said.

"That's why in this case most of the kids and parents were quite shocked. The kids don't know what is right and wrong and they like this guy. They are attached to him. He is their caregiver during the day," Weston said.

The evidence indicates Hanneman was motivated by a "fetish for human excrement," Hier-Johnson said, calling it a form of pedophilia.

Investigators are reviewing more than 500 videotapes confiscated from Hanneman's home, which they say show him committing sex acts. Police say he pointed them to the tapes, several of which allegedly were shot at the daycare center.

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

While some parents from Children City Learning Center are worried, others are angry that police arrested Hanneman.

"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 said.

In one case, a mother brought her child to the Washoe County Jail and said her child attended the daycare 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.

One mother told KRNV-TV earlier this week that her daughter adores Hanneman.

"She loved him so much," Saidy Kahraman said. "She would give him hugs. He was so nice a person. I was shocked" by the arrest.

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 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.