Former wrestling coach pleads guilty to sexual contact with students
Published on:
January 5, 2026
Reid Kappler. Photo contributed.
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SAUGERTIES―A former custodian and wrestling coach at the Saugerties Central School District has admitted to having sexual relations with two students.
Reid Kappler, 32, appeared Monday in Ulster County Court where he pleaded guilty to three counts of third-degree rape, a class E felony, after striking a deal with the Ulster County District Attorney’s Office.
In court, he confessed to Judge Bryan Rounds that in 2023 and 2024 he had sexual contact multiple times with two female students, aged 15 and 16.
Kappler had been indicted on 18 counts of third-degree rape following his arrest last summer. Under the plea agreement, he will be sentenced to 6 ½ years in state prison.
According to Saugerties Central School District Board of Education meeting minutes, Kappler resigned as a full-time custodial worker effective May 3, 2024. It is not publicly known when the district became aware of the allegations against him.
Kappler was arrested by the United States Marshals Task Force, Ulster County Sheriff’s Office, and investigators from the Ulster County Family and Children Advocacy Center on July 14, 2025, while living in Connecticut.
He was implicated during the same investigation that led to the July indictment of now-former part-time Saugerties Police Officer Sydney Mills, 53, for sex offenses against a minor.
In the weeks following Kappler’s arrest, the district launched an independent investigation into what school officials called its own “handling and subsequent response to the initial complaint.”
In September, Superintendent Daniel Erceg, Ed.D. was placed on paid administrative leave.
“This decision was made to support the board’s commitment to ensuring a fair, transparent and impartial internal investigation related to the district’s handling of and response to a serious complaint involving a former employee,” Board of Education President Jeffrey Riozzi said at the time.
Erceg ultimately resigned on December 9.
Kappler is currently remanded to the Ulster County Jail.
