FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Hartford, CT) - Sharmese L. Walcott, Hartford State’s Attorney, today announced that Robert Nichols, age 44, of Manchester, has been sentenced to a total of 40 years in prison, execution suspended after 18 years served and 10 years of probation, for physically abusing a 10-month-old boy and the sexual assault of a minor in an unrelated incident.
A Superior Court jury on June 27, 2023, found Nichols guilty of the crimes of Assault in the First Degree in violation of Connecticut General Statutes § 53a-59(a)(3), and two counts of Risk of Injury to a Child in violation of Connecticut General Statutes § 53a-21(a)(1). On August 16, 2023, the Honorable Kevin C. Doyle sentenced Nichols to 20 years in prison, execution suspended after 10 years served and five years of probation on the assault charge, and to six years in prison on each of the risk of injury charges, to run concurrently. This sentence will run consecutive to a sentence entered in November 2022 on a separate incident.
In November 2022, the defendant received the sentence of 20 years in prison, execution suspended after 8 years served and 10 years of probation. Nichols received this sentence after a jury found him guilty on September 27, 2022, of two counts of Sexual Assault in the Fourth Degree in violation of Connecticut General Statutes § 53a-73a (a)1A, and Risk of Injury to a Minor in violation of Connecticut General Statutes § 53-21(a)(2).
According to evidence introduced at the June 2023 trial, in October 2013, Manchester Police were contacted by medical professionals regarding suspected child abuse of a 10-month-old boy. The victim suffered head trauma and the injuries were determined to be potentially life-threatening. One witness testified she witnessed Nichols wrap the baby in a tight swaddle and slam him to the floor numerous times causing him to strike his head. The witness stated Nichols also placed the baby in a sink full of ice cold water causing him to thrash about and strike his head. Nichols was the pastor of the Word of Faith Ministry in East Hartford. He and a number of his followers lived in Nichols’ Manchester home which was owned by the Ministry. Witnesses said Nichols claimed he communicated directly with God and used that claim to control his followers.
Testimony in the September 2022 trial showed the victim, a young boy, had been staying with the Nichols family during the summer of 2010.
Both cases were prosecuted by Senior Assistant State’s Attorney Michael W. Riley, with the assistance of Inspector Luis Rodriguez.