Heber/Overgaard-According to police reports, 68-year-old Joseph Victor Riccardi Jr., a resident of Heber, has been charged with multiple felonies after he was allegedly sexually involved with a 16-year-old employee.
This story contains details that may be upsetting to some readers. Discretion is advised.
According to police reports from the Navajo County Sheriff’s Office, the case began on July 17 when deputies received a call from the victim’s father explaining his 16-year-old daughter had been sexually assaulted by her boss, Joseph Riccardi, owner of New York Eats and Treats, located in Heber, Arizona.
Investigators explained in the police report that they made contact with the victim and her family. During the interview, the victim told investigators she was closing the restaurant when Riccardi kissed her and touched her inappropriately. She described multiple incidents over several weeks, including groping, kissing, touching, and oral sex that she said occurred at the restaurant. She also explained that they both participated in “sexting,” exchanging explicit images and videos.
A detailed note, which was forensically downloaded and examined from the victim’s cell phone, documented her account. According to police reports, she described how the interactions escalated, beginning with compliments and flirting before turning into sexual contact. She wrote that Riccardi gave her breasts nicknames, “chocolate and vanilla,” and that he pressured her with sexual comments and advances when they were alone. The victim detailed that she lost an earring during one of the encounters.
A forensic download of the victim’s phone turned up explicit images. The forensic download of the victim’s phone also revealed a string of internet searches she made in July, including “getting groomed” and “what to do after being groomed.” One search on July 9 read “chemical burn on (female genitalia).”
On August 1, according to transcripts included in the police report, detectives arranged a confrontation call between the victim and Riccardi. During the call, she asked him directly how he felt about her and why he had told her he loved her. Riccardi said to her that he “still loved” her, but “loved everyone,” and was not angry with her. When she pressed him about what had happened between them, he admitted he sometimes thought about it, though he avoided specific details. At one point, she asked him if a stain was still on a chair from one of their encounters, and he replied that the restaurant had many stains from food spills.
The situation escalated about a week later. On the morning of August 8, deputies were dispatched to the restaurant after Riccardi threatened to shoot himself in the employee bathroom with a Taurus 9mm pistol. Deputies responded and negotiated with him. The report states that Riccardi stopped communicating at one point, and officers blocked off the entrance to the parking lot for safety. Eventually, Riccardi surrendered without injury and was transported for a mental health evaluation.
While Riccardi was in custody, detectives obtained a search warrant for the restaurant. Judge Penrod of the Navajo County Superior Court authorized the warrant, and members of the Major Crimes Apprehension Team served it at 11:10 a.m. Detectives documented the interior with photographs and searched for the missing earring the victim described, but no jewelry or DNA evidence was recovered, according to police reports. Investigators noted that the business had been cleaned since the alleged incidents, thereby reducing the likelihood of finding forensic evidence. They did collect Riccardi’s iPhone and took a buccal swab for DNA comparison.
Riccardi was interviewed later that day at the Overgaard substation. He appeared stressed and complained of memory problems, the report noted. According to the police reports, he admitted that he had requested and received nude photographs from the victim, including explicit images. He said he had once asked her to send him a picture while in the shower. He acknowledged calling her breasts “chocolate and vanilla” and said she had once shown him her bra. He denied that any sexual contact had occurred, insisting the relationship was limited to conversations and photographs.
He said he deleted the images because of her age and argued that asking for them should not be against the law. Detectives challenged him on that point, and after the interview, he was taken into custody.
Riccardi was booked into the Navajo County Jail on August 8 under a victim-notification order and a coordination-of-care hold due to his suicide threat earlier in the day. He was held for nearly two weeks before being released on August 20.
Riccardi now faces six counts of sexual conduct with a minor, two counts of luring a minor for sexual exploitation, one count of sexual exploitation of a minor, and one count of possession of drug paraphernalia. It’s important to note that drugs were not mentioned in the police report.
The most serious charge, sexual exploitation of a minor, is a class two felony that carries a mandatory prison sentence under Arizona law. The luring counts are class three felonies, and the sexual conduct and paraphernalia counts are class six felonies.
The indictment was filed in Navajo County Superior Court in mid-August, with Judge Jon H. Saline presiding over the case.
Riccardi has retained Phoenix defense attorney David Michael Cantor, while the Navajo County Attorney’s Office is handling prosecution.
Investigators noted in their report that the case was linked to another call involving Riccardi in August, classified as harassment.
The police report stated that victim rights were issued at the outset of the case and that counseling and support services were made available to the victim.
The case remains active in Navajo County Superior Court. Riccardi is expected to be in court on Sept. 15 and 19, at which time he will formally enter a plea. If convicted, he faces the possibility of years in prison, with the exploitation charge carrying the harshest penalty.
The allegations have shocked the community of Heber-Overgaard, where Riccardi’s restaurant has been a local fixture, and locals called him “Pappa Joe.” For many in the community, the restaurant had been a familiar gathering spot, and the charges have left locals expressing heartache.
It took Navajo County over 10 days to issue us the police reports for this story. We will not publish a press release in cases involving such serious allegations. We reviewed police reports and court records before producing this story.
Joseph Riccardi is innocent until proven guilty.
