A former elementary school teacher faces multiple criminal charges after having been arrested multiple times for reportedly inappropriately touching students. Nicholas Ricciardi, who lives and works in Connecticut, allegedly tickled several young students, prompting parents to file complaints with both the school and authorities. Although the touching didn’t seem to go beyond tickling, it’s still cause for concern, especially because it’s happened more than once. The former teacher has been arrested four times as a result of the allegations.
Forty-seven-year-old Nicholas Ricciardi was arrested by West Hartford Police Department on July 1, 2025, according to court records obtained by People. Ricciardi was charged with risk of injury to a child after being accused of inappropriately tickling a student. He was released on a $50,000 bond.
In December 2024, the Connecticut Department of Children and Families contacted West Hartford police, informing them that officials were looking into reports of suspected child sexual abuse, severe physical abuse, and/or severe neglect involving Ricciardi and a former student. The report was filed by the mom of a 6-year-old.
She alleged her daughter was “inappropriately touched by her teacher multiple times while attending the Solomon Schechter Day School,” according to an incident report Detective Dustin Ganci filed, per People. He spoke with the mother, who told him she pulled her children from the school as a result of these incidents.
In the interview, the mom shared that her daughter had been tickled “around the belly button area” by the man multiple times. She also told Ganci that while she gave her daughter a shower, the girl told her, “Mr. Ricciardi is a bad man and that he has hurt her.” This made her reach out to both Ricciardi and the school via email.
The teacher responded, making it clear he understood, and the head of the school told the mom that the school would open an investigation. After hearing about other “red flags” regarding Ricciardi, she pulled her kids from the school, People reported. The head of the school told Ganci that the teacher was “informed to stop that behavior.”
Ricciardi was placed on leave in January, per NBC Connecticut. Rabbi Jonathan Berger told families the teacher was placed on leave immediately. DCF was also made aware of the incident. The agency decided not to investigate, and Ricciardi returned to the school. When a second parent raised concerns, he was put on leave again. He has not been allowed on campus since mid-December and is no longer employed there.
The teacher was taken into custody on January 17. He was charged with one count of risk of injury to or impairing the morals of a child and one count of breach of peace in the second degree, NBC Connecticut reported.
According to People, Ricciardi was also arrested in April and charged with risk of injury to a child and breach of peace. This stemmed from an investigation into similar allegations from 2023, involving a student at a school where Ricciardi had previously worked.
Ricciardi has posted $135,000 in bonds and is facing four counts of risk of injury to a child and two counts of breach of peace. He will return to court in August to enter pleas in at least three of the cases, People reported.
