El Toro : Child-Care Supervisor Allegedly Molested 5
The 25-year-old supervisor of a child-care center at the El Toro Marine Elementary School in Irvine allegedly molested five boys under 10 years of age, Orange County Deputy Dist. Atty. Ariadne Symons said Wednesday.
John Howard Nokes of Huntington Beach, a supervisor, was arrested on seven counts of child molestation on April 3 after an investigation by the Orange County Sheriff’s Department and the Naval Intelligence Service at El Toro Marine Corps Air Station.
He was set free on $10,000 bail and placed on leave.
A spokesman at the El Toro base said the school and the day-care center operation are not in any way connected with the Marine Corps. The school is near one of the air station’s gates and carries the Marine Corps name because of its proximity.
The day-care center at the school was operated by the YWCA, whose director, Mary Douglas, said Wednesday she would not comment on the allegations against Nokes.
“I’m sure you will appreciate my position,” she said. “I just can’t say anything now.”
Symons said she would ask the court to raise Nokes’ bail from $10,000 to $100,000 when he is arraigned Tuesday.
“I think with the number of children involved in this case . . . the low bail is not appropriate,” she said.
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