Key Takeaways
- An amended lawsuit against the Montgomery County Board of Education adds a second former student, identified as T.H., who alleges former teacher Daniel J. Picca subjected him to inappropriate physical contact while he was a second-grade student at Candlewood Elementary during the 1989–1990 school year.
- T.H.’s allegations predate by several years the earliest complaints identified by the Maryland State Board of Education, which date back to at least 1993.
- The lawsuit alleges the Montgomery County Board of Education failed to protect students despite years of complaints, investigations, reprimands, and documented concerns involving Picca’s interactions with male students.
MONTGOMERY COUNTY, MD — October 1, 2026 — An amended lawsuit filed on behalf of two former Montgomery County Public School students alleges that the Montgomery County Board of Education failed to protect them from former elementary school teacher Daniel J. Picca.
The lawsuit was originally filed June 17, 2026, in the Circuit Court of Maryland for Montgomery County by Andreozzi + Foote on behalf of Nicholas Moon. It names the Montgomery County Board of Education and Picca as defendants.
An amended complaint filed September 28 adds a second former student, identified as T.H. to protect his privacy. The lawsuit names the Montgomery County Board of Education and Picca as defendants.
According to the suit, Moon attended Kemp Mill Elementary School as a child and was entrusted to the supervision of Picca. The lawsuit alleges that Picca cultivated a “special relationship” with Moon, using Moon’s interest in professional wrestling to facilitate private, individualized interactions with him. According to the complaint, Picca frequently isolated Moon from other students and school personnel and engaged in one-on-one interactions that were unrelated to any legitimate educational purpose.
Picca allegedly directed Moon to remove his shirt and flex his muscles and engaged him in physical wrestling activities and holds that involved unnecessary and inappropriate physical contact. The complaint further alleges that Picca subjected Moon to unwanted physical contact, including massages and touching of his shoulders, back, chest, and torso. According to the lawsuit, this physical contact served no legitimate educational purpose and exceeded the boundaries of appropriate teacher-student interaction.
Amended Complaint Adds Second Plaintiff
The amended complaint adds a second former MCPS student, identified as T.H., who alleges that Picca frequently subjected him to physically aggressive and humiliating treatment while he was a second-grade student at Candlewood Elementary School during the 1989–1990 school year.
According to the amended complaint, Picca allegedly used candy known as “Soccer Pops” to encourage and induce students to sit on his lap. T.H. alleges that Picca rubbed his back and shoulders while he was seated on Picca’s lap and, at times, positioned the two behind a partition near the classroom cubby area, separating them from the view of other students.
T.H. further alleges that when he and Picca were alone after class, Picca directed him to remove his shirt before massaging his bare back, chest, and shoulders. The amended complaint alleges that the contact served no legitimate educational, disciplinary, or instructional purpose and involved Defendant Picca using his position as Plaintiff T.H.’s teacher to obtain private and inappropriate physical contact with a young child.
Documented History of Complaints
Central to the lawsuit is the allegation that the Montgomery County Board of Education had been repeatedly warned about Picca’s pattern of inappropriate conduct with male students.
The amended complaint alleges that Picca engaged in inappropriate conduct with T.H. during the 1989–1990 school year, several years before the earliest complaints identified by the Maryland State Board of Education, which date back to at least 1993. The amended complaint specifically notes that the State Board’s findings do not establish that Picca’s alleged misconduct began in 1993.
As reflected in the findings of the Maryland State Board of Education in Daniel Picca v. Montgomery County Board of Education, Case No. MSDE-BE-01-11-45289, school administrators had received complaints dating back to at least 1993 that Picca directed male students to remove their shirts, flex their muscles, sit on his lap, participate in wrestling activities, and engage in other inappropriate physical interactions with him.
In its opinion, the State Board described the events chronicled in Picca’s case as “shocking,” emphasizing that they had occurred “over and over again for seventeen years.”
“From the first complaint in October 1993, seventeen years passed with patterns repeated and reprimands issued,” the State Board wrote. “Yet this teacher was transferred to different elementary schools and remained in the classroom. That should never ever have occurred.”
The State Board also noted that Picca’s personnel record was “filled with reprimands and directives” that he did not follow and observed that each reprimand appeared to have been treated in isolation without reference to previous directives.
Picca had worked for Montgomery County Public Schools since 1985, including as an elementary school teacher at Candlewood Elementary School before transferring to Rachel Carson Elementary School in 1990. The amended complaint now alleges that Picca subjected T.H. to inappropriate physical contact while T.H. was a second-grade student at Candlewood during the 1989–1990 school year.
According to the Statement of the Case by an Administrative Law Judge, while at Rachel Carson, Picca engaged in misconduct involving male students that included having boys sit on his lap, directing them to remove their shirts, wrestling with them, photographing them, and feeling their muscles.
According to the amended complaint, school administrators, law enforcement authorities, Child Protective Services, Human Resources personnel, and other officials investigated concerns about Picca’s conduct. It further alleges that Picca received multiple written reprimands, directives, memoranda, and disciplinary actions over many years.
Despite those complaints, investigations, warnings, and documented concerns, the complaint alleges that the Montgomery County Board of Education continued to permit Picca access to students and failed to adequately supervise, monitor, restrict, discipline, remove, or terminate him.
Claims Asserted Against Montgomery County BOE
The lawsuit asserts claims against the Montgomery County Board of Education for negligent, grossly negligent, and reckless hiring, retention, and supervision, general negligence, and gross negligence and recklessness. It brings additional claims against Picca for battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
The lawsuit was filed pursuant to Maryland’s Child Victims Act. The plaintiffs seek damages for emotional distress, psychological injury, pain and suffering, and other damages they allege resulted from Picca’s conduct and the Board’s alleged failures to protect them.
The plaintiffs are represented by Nathaniel Foote and Kylie Tejera of Andreozzi + Foote.
About Andreozzi + Foote
Andreozzi + Foote is one of the nation’s leading sexual abuse law firms with a history of representing survivors in cases against large and powerful organizations including Penn State University, the Boy Scouts of America, and the Catholic Church. The trauma-informed sexual abuse lawyers at Andreozzi + Foote are committed to obtaining life-changing results for victims and their families.
For media inquiries, please contact:
Maria Smith
Andreozzi + Foote
4503 N Front St.
Harrisburg, PA 17110
Email: marias@vca.law
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Image source: Candlewood Elementary School in Montgomery County, Maryland, via montgomeryschoolsmd.org.
