Idaho Musician Charged in Foot Fondling Case

COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho – A 26-year-old musician has been charged with sexual abuse after police received reports from at least nine girls that he asked them for their socks and asked if he could rub their feet, sometimes in exchange for cash.

Nate Schierman, a Coeur d'Alene musician who recently released a CD called "Risk" on the Dummy Boy label, was charged this week in 1st District Court with one felony count of sexual abuse of a minor under 16 and a separate count of misdemeanor child enticement. He may face more charges and was in the Kootenai County Jail on $100,000 bond, police said.

The felony charge stems from a Sept. 20 incident in which, prosecutors allege, Schierman told a 14-year-old teen he met walking near Lakes Middle School that he was on a scavenger hunt and needed a pink bracelet — or a pair of socks. The girl was wearing sandals, but a female companion removed her socks and gave them to Schierman in exchange for $20, The Spokesman-Review reported.

The girl in sandals then offered her footwear to Schierman for $20, police said. After that, according to a police report, Schierman told her he would give her $100 if she would let him massage her feet.

She climbed inside his car and let him rub her feet, but told authorities she pulled away when Schierman began stroking his genitals. She kept the $100, police said.

A District Court clerk in Coeur d'Alene said Tuesday that Schierman did not yet have a lawyer. Jail officials said all requests to speak with Schierman first had to go through an information officer. Schierman's phone number in Coeur d'Alene wasn't listed, and phone numbers of family members in St. Maries, his hometown, had been disconnected.

After his arrest last Thursday, officers said they interviewed Schierman's ex-girlfriend, Kelin Bard, who is the mother of his 2-year-old child. She told police he "always had a foot fetish" and liked "socks, the smell of socks, the smell of feet and massaging feet," according to Coeur d'Alene police reports.

Schierman would get socks from women by claiming he was on a scavenger hunt, Bard said.

Several girls told similar stories of being solicited, and identified Schierman from a photo, according to police reports. One said she received $5 for her socks.