MARTINEZ — Weeks after charging an Antioch nanny with producing and sharing child pornography images of a baby girl in her care, prosecutors now say they have evidence the 28-year-old woman molested the girl.
Michelle Nicole Hidalgo, 28, has now been charged with three new counts of child molestation of a victim younger than 10, and using a minor for sex acts, on top of four counts of distribution of child pornography. After the new charges were filed, a judge raised Hidalgo’s bail to $2.7 million and she remains jailed in Richmond.
If convicted, Hidalgo faces up to 60 years to life in prison, according to court records.
Hidalgo was arrested in late September after police in Contra Costa County received a tip from a prominent social media company that she’d been sharing lewd images of a girl with another user. Police took a look at her account and found chats between Hidalgo and a man who requested more photos of the girl.
When a District Attorney senior inspector confronted Hidalgo about the images outside her Antioch home, Hidalgo allegedly admitted to sharing the pictures, calling it “stupid” and a one-time mistake. But police now allege that she molested the girl at the direction of the man, who asked her to do “worse and worse” things to the girl and to document it, authorities said in court records.
According to police, the girl’s parents met Hidalgo through Care.com, a website dedicated to helping parents connect with nannies and babysitters, and she wasn’t someone they knew previously.
Police are still investigating the possibility that additional victims exist. They have asked anyone with information about Hidalgo to contact Senior Inspector Darryl Holcombe at [email protected].