OAKLAND — A swim coach, nanny and babysitter accused of molesting at least six young boys will remain in jail for the time being while facing a slew of felony charges, a judge ordered this week.
Tyler Reece Livingston, 26, was denied an opportunity at bail Tuesday amid an uproar this month over his potential release. Alameda County Superior Court Judge Elena Condes’ decision came as prosecutors signaled plans to file yet another criminal complaint against the Emeryville swim coach, suggesting that the case against him could be growing.
He remains held at the Santa Rita Jail without bail, county records show.
Livingston faces 15 felony charges after authorities say he molested at least six children under the age of 10 while working as a swim coach, a nanny and a babysitter throughout the East Bay.
Investigators began looking into his actions after a parent of two boys who took swim lessons from Livingston witnessed one of his sons sitting on Livingston’s lap in a hot tub, authorities said. The boys later said the swim coach inappropriately touched them under their bathing suits, according to authorities.
He was initially charged with molesting four boys, but the case expanded after two more boys disclosed to their parents that Livingston had molested them too, prosecutors said.
Livingston’s attorneys pleaded for his release to his parents’ home in Pleasant Hill, Mo., arguing the jail was not honoring his strict “lacto-vegetarian” diet. Despite being “gravely allergic” to lactose, he was being fed milk and eggs in the jail, his attorneys said.
In a letter to the court, his parents also called their son a “trusting, honest, non-violent and morally upright person,” while lauding his work as a youth advocate who “bonded with the kids he helped.”
Yet the parents of the boys Livingston allegedly molested said their families couldn’t feel safe with the coach out of jail.
One parent claimed that Livingston had recently voiced plans to move to France, prompting prosecutors to suggest that Livingston could be a flight risk if released. Another parent said his son lived in fear of Livingston’s release.
“I am afraid for my son … I am terrified that there is a possibility that Tyler will be released on bail,” the father of a 6-year-old boy wrote in a letter asking a judge to keep Livingston in jail. “Tyler knows how to find my son … I write this letter so that when my son is scared, I can tell him the bad guy is locked away, the good guys are helping.”
