Local Child Care Worker Accused of Child Molestation

A 23-year-old man who was working at multiple childcare facilities in the area, including KinderCare in Clayton, has been charged with child molestation. Police are asking any parents with children who were under Anthony D'Tiole's supervision to report anything suspicious.

D'Tiole was employed at childcare centers and churches throughout Contra Costa County over the past two years and as recently as last week. He is being held at county jail in Martinez on $5.6 million bail and has been charged with four felony counts of lewd and lascivious acts on a child under 14 years old, according to county records.

The 23-year-old was arrested at a KinderCare facility in Clayton on April 18, where he had been working for two days. KinderCare corporate spokeswoman Colleen Moran said D'Tiole was immediately fired and was never left alone with children during his brief time at the facility.

He also passed a background check before being hired and did not have a criminal record, she said.

"It's paramount to us that we hire employees that are caring and thoughtful because parents entrust us with the most important people in their lives...and its important to us that we maintain that trust," she said.

According to his LinkedIn profile, D'Tiole has held childcare jobs at locations throughout Contra Costa County since graduating from Saint Mary's College of California in Moraga in 2011.

He was also the subject of a 2010 article on Examiner.com about men in the child care industry. Discussing the reluctance of some parents to hire a male nanny, or "manny," D'Tiole was quoted as saying: "Once they see how good I am with kids, and the children insist on having me watch them, I get a lot of callbacks." 

In the online profile, the suspect said he was hired as a Sunday school teacher for first and second grade children at Walnut Creek Presbyterian Church in 2011. Morgan Murray, the church's pastor, said D'Tiole worked at the church up until a week ago and is no longer employed there. "To the best of our knowledge, none of the allegations are connected to Walnut Creek Presbyterian Church," he said, noting that he had been advised not to comment on the matter by the church's legal counsel.

Representatives from Our Savior's Lutheran Church of Lafayette, where D'Tiole was employed from 2010 to 2011, were not available for comment today.

Walnut Creek police Lt. Steve Gorski said a police investigation is ongoing with the collaboration of Orinda police and other neighboring agencies. He said police believe D'Tiole, who also worked as a babysitter, may have victimized other children in the area. "We're looking for additional victims, just because he has had so much access to young children," the lieutenant said. "We're casting a wide net to make sure any potential victims out there know what's going on and have the ability to talk to our detectives."

Anyone with information about the case is asked to call Walnut Creek police at (925) 943-5874.

Bay City News contributed to this report.

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