A Norwalk High softball coach is accused of inappropriately touching his female players, including putting his hands on their butts and inner thighs, along with making comments that left the team feeling uncomfortable and unsafe.

Cary Nadel, 70, of Wilton, turned himself in to Norwalk police Friday morning and was arrested on a warrant for four counts of fourth-degree sexual assault and one count of risk of injury to a minor. Nadel was arraigned in Stamford Superior Court on Friday afternoon.

Deputy Assistant State’s Attorney Larry Tamaccio told the judge Nadel abused his position of trust. Tamaccio said the allegations appear to have occurred for an extended period of time and some of the incidents were captured on video.

According to Nadel’s arrest warrant, he was hired to coach the Norwalk High School Varsity Softball Team for the 2024 season. Once police began their investigation on April 1, the school’s administration told him to stay away from campus and have no contact with the program, the warrant said.

The allegations are from last year and the start of this season with Nadel’s last day of coaching in March, according to the warrant.

It includes accounts from several players and another softball coach. Multiple statements in the warrant referenced Nadel wrapping his arm around girls, pulling them close so their bodies were touching “side to side, hip to hip,” and making it difficult for them to pull away.

One player told police, “There were numerous times when Nadel would slap her on her buttocks and sometimes he would leave his hand on her butt when he would talk to her. When he would do this to her, she felt ‘uncomfortable, fearful, weirded out and disgusted,’” the warrant said.

Another player said Nadel had tapped her on the butt before at-bats to say, “good luck,” or as a way of saying, “good job,” per the warrant. She also told police that Nadel once came up to her car after practice while she was in the driver’s seat with the door open and, “put his right hand in the middle of her left inner thigh while talking to her,” according to the warrant. She said he left it there for about two minutes, which made her feel “unsafe, in danger, vulnerable, disgusted, uncomfortable and uneasy as in her mind, she wasn’t sure how far her coach would have taken that situation,” the warrant stated.

A 21-year-old woman reported Nadel slapped her butt at the team banquet last year, and “she felt violated and could hardly eat after that encounter,” according to the warrant. A coach told police about witnessing the incident, too.

That coach also said Nadel discussed his escapades at strip clubs on the bus to a scrimmage in March. According to the warrant, she told police, “As young women, we are taught to vocalize when we are uncomfortable or if something does not feel right, and I know that the girls on the team and I have all vocalized it, and Cary continued to disrespect and push our boundaries. We have done everything we are taught to as young women and nothing has changed. Multiple girls have expressed feeling unsafe, anxious and uncomfortable around Cary Nadel, including JV players.”

She also said that remarks had been made about some of the players’ bodies, including when players needed new pants in bigger sizes and Nadel allegedly said, “Just stop eating and work out so they will fit,” according to the warrant.

During Nadel’s arraignment Friday, defense attorney William Westcott said his client has spent more than 20 years recruiting high school athletes, helping, “hundreds and hundreds of men and women” receive scholarships to play at the collegiate level. Westcott also pointed out Nadel has no prior criminal record and has been coaching for decades without issue.

“I suspect he’s been coaching the same, but the times have changed,” Westcott told the judge.

However, per Nadel’s warrant, Brookfield police investigated him in 2021 when he coached softball at Brookfield High School after allegations he’d touched players’ butts there. According to the warrant, “Having interviewed the juvenile female softball players, it was determined Cary Nadel had indeed touched the intimate body parts of some of the players. However, the players dismissed the unwanted touching by thinking of it as ‘coaching.’” Nadel was issued a warning by police and told he could’ve been arrested if the players wanted to press charges.

In court Friday, the prosecution asked that bond remain at $100,000 while the defense requested Nadel be released on a promise to appear. Judge Robert Golger said while Nadel is not a flight risk, “the allegations aren’t a one-off. They appear to be a component of his approach and not to be sanctioned.” The judge set bond at $25,000, which Nadel posted after court.

The judge ordered Nadel not to appear on school grounds or have contact with any of the complainants from the warrant. Golger also said Nadel can’t engage in any unsupervised conduct with minors or coaching of female athletes.

News 12 reached out to Norwalk Public Schools for a statement. Media specialist Emily Morgan said, “Norwalk Public Schools considers personnel matters to be confidential and we have no further comment.”

Nadel is due back in court July 11.

Police are asking anyone with additional information to contact Special Victims Unit Detective English at 203-854-3043 or Penglish@norwalkct.gov.