West Hartford Police said Tuesday that a 47-year-old Manchester man, formerly a teacher at Solomon Schechter Day School, was arrested again by warrant on June 13, 2025. 

By Ronni Newton

A former teacher at Solomon Schechter Day School in West Hartford was arrested by warrant for a second time by West Hartford Police last week, and faces a second set of charges related to inappropriate touching of a juvenile student.

In a June 18, 2025, email, West Hartford Police Lt. Ryan Riley said that a warrant was sought and obtained for the arrest of Nicholas Ricciardi, 47, of Manchester, after police investigated a complaint that a second juvenile student was the victim of “inappropriate touching.” Ricciardi was taken into custody on June 13, Riley said, and charged with one count of risk of injury to or impairing the morals of a child.

Police did not provide any information about the age of the juvenile involved in the latest charge, the date the inappropriate touching occurred, and did not specifically name the school where the incident occurred.

Ricciardi posted $25,000 bond set by the court related to the new charge, and was released from custody. He is due to be arraigned in Hartford Superior Court on the new charge on June 26, 2025.

Ricciardi was previously arrested by West Hartford Police on Jan. 17, 2025. In that case, he was charged with one count each of risk of injury to or impairing the morals of a child and second-degree breach of peace and was released after posting $40,000 surety bond on those charges. According to court documents, his next court date related to those charges is Aug. 21, 2025.

The West Hartford Police Detective Division had launched an investigation into Ricciardi in December 2024 after being notified by the Department of Children and Families (DCF) of a parent report that a female student in the first/second grade class at Solomon Schechter had been subject to inappropriate touching by Ricciardi, who was her teacher. Online court documents list the date of the offense as Nov. 24, 2024.

Ricciardi had been hired as a general studies teacher for first and second grade at Solomon Schechter Day School and was employed as of Aug. 1, 2024, according to information previously provided to We-Ha.com by Head of School, Rabbi Jonathan Berger. According to a letter from Berger to families sent following the January arrest, “since mid-December [2024], the teacher [Ricciardi] has not returned to campus, and he is no longer employed by the school. He has been directed not to return to the campus.”

The West Hartford Police report of the investigation that led to Ricciardi’s initial arrest indicates that the victim told her mother about being “tickled” by Ricciardi “around the belly button area,” as well as “touching and rubbing,” and also told her mother that Ricciardi had shared food privately with her. The victim’s mother told police that the victim has experienced behavioral changes including being afraid to sleep alone in her room.

The police investigation also stated that following the incident of “tickling” prior to Thanksgiving, the victim’s mother had email conversations with Ricciardi, which were shared with police. In one exchange, she told Ricciardi in an email that her daughter is a “fun, spunky girl who loves to joke around” and she is working hard to “teach [the victim] about the importance of bodily autonomy and not allowing others besides a medical professional or parent touch her body” as well as what is appropriate touching. The police report indicates that Ricciardi replied, “Heard and understood … Thanks for bringing this to my attention.”

The West Hartford Police report notes that Berger stated that Ricciardi was told to stop the tickling after the initial incident had been reported. The report cites Berger as stating: “We spoke with the teacher pretty clearly and he understood that, that had to stop and we hoped that was the end of the matter.”

According to the police report, when Berger learned that Ricciardi had not stopped the tickling behavior and had touched another child’s waistline, “the decision was made by the school to place Ricciardi on a leave of absence.” Ricciardi had not initially contested that he had tickled the victim, and Berger told police that he “appeared upset and stunned” when he was informed that he would be placed on leave.

On Jan. 14, West Hartford Police applied for a warrant for Ricciardi’s arrest, charging him with one count of risk of injury to or impairing the morals of a child and one count of second-degree breach of peace. The warrant was approved on Jan. 17, and Ricciardi was arrested at his Manchester home without incident.

Ricciardi was also arrested by Windsor Police on April 7, 2025, on an outstanding warrant charging him with risk of injury to a minor and breach of peace. Those charges stem from an incident at St. Gabriel School in Windsor, where Ricciardi worked prior to being employed by Solomon Schechter.

We-Ha.com has reviewed a copy of the incident report related to Ricciardi’s arrest by warrant by Windsor Police, that lists the date of the offense as Dec. 1, 2023.

The warrant application notes that the child involved was a female student, age 7, and states that Ricciardi was a gym teacher at St. Gabriel School. The warrant states that the child informed her mother that Ricciardi had been “tickling and rough housing” with her and that she did not like it. The child’s mother brought her concerns to an employee at St. Gabriel School.

Although the incident occurred in late 2023, the mother of the St. Gabriel School child brought her concerns to Windsor Police after seeing a news article regarding Ricciardi’s arrest in West Hartford in 2025 and explained, according to the warrant application, “that she wished to provide police with more evidence on Ricciardi.”

Forensic interviews were conducted with both the child involved in the first arrest in West Hartford, as well as that victim’s sister who had observed the tickling. The warrant application from Windsor Police also indicates that a forensic interview was conducted on that student.

After the April 7 arrest in Windsor, Ricciardi posted the $20,000 court-set bond. According to court documents, his next court date related to the Windsor charges is Aug. 21, 2025.

A detailed article published on June 17, CT Insider Senior Editor and Columnist Dan Haar that followed an extensive review, provides further information regarding the above charges and additional complaints made by families about Ricciardi. Haar writes that “the investigations mask a dangerously flawed safety net for schoolchildren. Public records, two confidential reports by state Department of Children and Families and sources who shared their stories with me reveal a picture of inaction or delayed action by adults in charge. Gray areas in state laws leave children unprotected from the hands of teachers.”

Anyone with additional information related to this investigation is asked to contact West Hartford Police at 860-523-5203 or via the anonymous tip line 860-570-8969 or email [email protected].

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