Swim Coach Investigated After Being Seen In Vigilante Video

MERIDEN, CT — A former local swim coach is being investigated after allegedly getting caught in a sting operation by a vigilante group that targets potential sexual predators. The Meriden Record-Journal reports Nick Daddabbo, 26, who is seen in a video posted on the POP (Prey on Predators) Squad website, is a former swim coach at the Meriden-New Britain-Berlin YMCA and has also coached in the Bristol and Plainville school districts.

YMCA officials said on Monday that they are aware of allegations against a staff member and that the employee no longer works for the Y and they are working with authorities in their investigation, according to the Record-Journal.

Daddabbo is featured on the POP Squad website as “#105 Nick” who came out to an undisclosed Bristol home to meet what he believed was a 14-year-old boy after three weeks of chatting and texting, according to the POP Squad. Daddabbo was actually texting with a member of the POP Squad, who confronted him while he was in his car outside of the home.

POP Squad is a “local movement out of Connecticut that strives to help protect children from online predators both by catching these predators, and also raising community awareness around the issue in hopes of toughening laws and legislation,” according to its website.

FOX61 reports Daddabbo hasn’t been charged with a crime but is being investigated after Bristol Police received a complaint from the Bristol Board of Education after the video was seen online.

The Bristol Superintendent’s Office said on Monday that Daddabbo is no longer an employee with the school district after he was identified as the man in the video, according to the Bristol Press. Before being hired in Bristol, Daddabbo was a middle school swim coach in Plainville from 2010 to 2016 and also worked as a substitute teacher in the district.

POP Squad has turned over all of its information on Daddabbo to police.

Read more at the Bristol Press here, FOX 61 here and the Meriden Record-Journal here.

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