A Denmark native was hit with 15 counts of sex abuse for forcing Manhattan preschoolers to grope his genitals over the course of one week, according court papers.
Malthe Thomsen, 22, allegedly placed boys’ and girls’ hands on his genitals over his clothes at International Preschool, where he was doing an internship, according to a criminal complaint.
Thomsen, who started at the school in February, carried out the sick crimes at the preschool’s Midtown location on E. 45th Street from May 27 to June 4.
On three separate occasions, he allegedly took the head of a 10th child and pressed it against his genitals over his clothing, the complaint said.
He also placed three other children’s buttocks against his genitals over his clothing.
Thomsen was arrested last Friday.
He appeared in Manhattan Criminal Court Thursday, where a judge ruled to indict him on felony charges and tossed him behind bars.
“The judge summarily found, without saying why, there was reasonable cause to find there was felony committed,” said defense attorney David Fisher.
Fisher said the preschoolers weren’t the ones who complained about the abuse. A school worker, Gigi, notified her bosses after claiming to have seen Thomsen grope the students’ buttocks, according to Fisher.
The school placed an in-classroom monitor to observe Thomsen, who was never caught doing anything inappropriate, said Fisher.
The Danish man was accompanied in court by his mother and her wife, who flew in from Copenhagen.
“We know it’s not true. Every parent would say that but he’s from a family of preschool teachers,” said Brigitte Thomsen.
She said her son came to New York for training to become a preschool teacher in Denmark.
“In Denmark, we don’t have this fear of touching. It’s normal and common if a child is sad, you put him on your lap,” she said.
“He’s a very loving, caring guy. He’s not a child abuser.”
— Additional reporting by Larry Celona