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Ryan Wiechnicki, who investigators said snuck off with the girl backstage at the high school auditorium, was being held on $50,000 bail in the Bergen County Jail following his arrest yesterday.
The girl’s mother notified authorities and an investigation followed by members of the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Special Victims Unit and Ridgefield police.
An SVU detective interviewed the girl, who “provided specific details regarding what had occurred,” Bergen County Prosecutor John L. Molinelli said this afternoon.
Wiechnicki participates in the district’s STRIVE program where dozens of developmentally disabled students aged 18-21 who have completed their high school academic requirements learn and practice skills that will prepare them for life.
Employment training and life, social and personal skills are developed in STRIVE (Strides Toward Reaching Independence Via Education), which was established nearly a decade ago.
The program has been fueld by Gov. Christie’s “Employment First” policy, which requires state government to remove barriers to state jobs for applicants with physical, mental and developmental disabilities.
An arraignment was scheduled for this coming Wednesday for the Romanian-born Wiechnicki.
MUGSHOT: Courtesy BERGEN COUNTY PROSECUTOR
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