A teacher who was fired for inappropriately touching two students has been arrested again—this time, for an alleged felony that happened a year earlier, while he was working at another school.

Nicholas J. Ricciardi was arrested on April 7 for Breach of Peace in the Second Degree, which is a misdemeanor, and Risk of Injury to a Child, which is a class C felony. He was arrested for the same charges on Jan. 17.

At the time of his first arrest, Ricciardi was working at Solomon Schechter Day School, a private Jewish school in West Hartford. While he worked for Solomon Schechter, there were two complaints filed by parents against him. Both alleged that he “inappropriately tickled” students.

Ricciardi was placed on leave while he was being investigated by the Department of Children and Families (DCF) for the first complaint, which was filed on Nov. 24, 2024. However, Ricciardi returned to school after DCF officials decided not to investigate the accusation further. He was placed on leave again after the second complaint, which was made in December 2024.  He never returned to Solomon Schechter after that, and his contract was terminated. 

But his second arrest—the one which happened in April—was for an incident that happened more than a year ago, around Dec. 1, 2023. Ricciardi was working at St. Gabriel’s School, a private Catholic school in Windsor.

Ricciardi would, reportedly, tickle a seven-year-old girl around the neck and would poke at a scar on her shoulder, according to the arrest warrant from the Windsor Police Department. Once, Ricciardi ostensibly reached for her shoulder and poked her chest instead. The girl felt like she was being targeted and, after her parents complained about the tickling, she was pulled aside by another teacher at the school and told that Ricciardi was “a good man.”

Ricciardi never touched the girl’s skin and her parents do not believe that the tickling was sexual in nature, according to the warrant. However they made the girl very uncomfortable and at one point she “broke down emotionally” when talking to her parents about it, according to the arrest warrant. The girl’s parents also believe Ricciardi would be “uncomfortably close” to students in the classroom.

According to the school, Ricciardi remained with the school until the end of the academic year, in June 2024. On March 19, 2024, the school’s Facebook page made a post about an event that happened in Riccardi’s second-grade class.

While there were several DCF investigations that took place at St. Gabriel’s that year, the school did not confirm if any of them involved Ricciardi.  

Solomon Schechter could not be reached for questions.

Ricciardi was released from jail on bond. His arrangement date for both arrests is scheduled for April 28. 

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