Updated: Risk of Injury Charges Dropped, Tolland Teacher Resigns

The charges of disorderly conduct and risk of injury to a minor against Michael Cardin, a Tolland Middle School teacher and former Democratic state legislator, were dropped Tuesday in exchange for his teaching certificate.

Cardin, a local business owner who serves as chairman of the Tolland Planning and Zoning commission, agreed to resign from his teaching position and relinquish his ability to teach in Connecticut, according to Supervisory Assistant State's Attorney Adam B. Scott in Manchester. Cardin has agreed to not appeal the decision, Scott said Thursday morning.

Cardin's case was transferred from Superior Court in Rockville to Manchester when his attorney, Stephen McEleney, raised a legal concern that there was a potential conflict with having the case be reviewed in the Tolland County judicial district, Scott said.

When asked about the case on Wednesday evening McEleney said that he was unable to comment at that time because he had not yet received his client's permission to speak about the case.

Cardin never spoke to state police detectives during their investigation. However, during an interview with a state Department of Children and Families investigator in 2010, and in the presense of his union attorney, Cardin denied the allegations, according to the arrest affidavit.

Cardin, 40, was arrested last fall on charges of risk of injury to a child and disorderly conduct based on a complaint made by the school system in May 2010 alleging that Cardin had inappropriately touched a female student. At that time school officials put Cardin on paid leave and contacted the state Department of Children and Families, and state police at the Troop C Barracks in Tolland began to investigate the allegations.

Cardin turned himself into state police in September 2010 after being told of a warrant for his arrest.

In February, Tolland Superintendent of Schools William D. Guzman said Cardin would remain on leave pending the results of this casee. On Thursday, Guzman said he had not yet received a letter of resignation from Cardin.

According to the warrant, several female students told school officials that Cardin's lingering presence and his alleged actions, such as touching their arm or back, removing a cell phone or iPod from the girls' pockets or looking too closely at a necklace, made them feel uncomfortable. Many said that he seemed to give preferential treatment to the girls in the class, such as telling them answers to quiz questions and not following through with checking on their class workbooks, according to Cardin's 16-page arrest affidavit.

A fellow teacher also told police and school officials that she had received an unwelcome explicit text message from Cardin in March 2010 after a gathering at his house, according to the warrant. He later apologized for the message, the unidentified female teacher said.

Scott said although the case involved several allegations of misconduct, most of them involved "bad behavior," but that they were not criminal.

The allegation of one victim in particular did meet the criminal definition of risk of injury and led to Cardin's arrest, Scott said.

The seventh-grade female student made allegations that Cardin repeatedly touched her inappropriately throughout the 2008-2009 school year. According to the warrant, the accusations include rubbing her neck and shoulders and standing next to her at her desk while he was in an arroused state. The girl became so uncomfortable by Cardin's alleged actions, that she said included looking down her shirt, that she began to wear a sweat shirts that she kept zipped-up, according to the warrant.

The female student told her mother about the incidences and the mother advised her to stay away from Cardin, but the family did not report their concern to police or school officials.

According to the warrant, several of the students had mentioned to their parents their discomfort with Cardin but none had reported it to the school or police until last year.

After recently speaking to the unidentified female student, who now resides in New Jersey, the state's attorney's office and Cardin agreed to dispose of the charges in exchange for Cardin's resignation from teaching and relinquishment of his teaching certificate.

Tolland Patch will report further details on the matter as they are revealed.