NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) – A New Jersey elementary school custodian is facing charges after posting videos of himself urinating and spitting on cafeteria utensils, committing obscene acts with inanimate objects and putting bleach in food, according to the Cumberland County Prosecutor's Office.
Authorities confirmed that Giovanni Impellizzeri, 25, has been employed by the Upper Deerfield Township Board of Education at Elizabeth Moore School, an elementary school serving kids in third to fifth grade, since September 2019.
Giovanni Impellizzeri, 25Cumberland County Prosecutor
The New Jersey State Police (NJSP) were contacted by school authorities on Monday after receiving multiple anonymous tips referencing disturbing videos that Impellizzeri had posted in the messaging app Telegram.
The tipster saved several of the videos and they were obtained and viewed by the NJSP, according to an affidavit of probable cause filed with the charges.
In the videos, the defendant can allegedly be seen "[utilizing] various utensils and items from the school to wipe his penis, testicles, and anus" and "masturbating and urinating on pillows and kitchen bowls," the affidavit said.
Additionally, the video shows Impellizzeri allegedly spraying bleach into a container of cucumbers and wiping his genitals on pieces of bread that were later served to children, the affidavit confirms.
On Tuesday, Impellizzeri was arrested and charged with third-degree aggravated assault, two counts of third-degree tampering with food products, third-degree endangering the welfare of a child and third-degree attempted endangering the welfare of a child, the Cumberland County Prosecutor's Office said.
A charge of second-degree official misconduct was added Wednesday.
"Based on the information received at this time it has been determined that the alleged inappropriate activity did not involve anyone other than the individual in question and occurred after school hours," Upper Deerfield Township Schools Superintendent Peter Koza said in a letter to families obtained by NJ.
The Upper Deerfield Township School District is working with the Cumberland County Department of Health to ensure that food preparation stations, utensils and surfaces are properly sanitized, and that any contaminated food is discarded, officials said.
Authorities are taking steps to collect samples of bodily fluids from the defendant to check for the possibility of infectious disease transmission to anyone who ate at the school.
Officials are working to determine whether the videos were recorded recently or in the past.
The investigation is ongoing and anyone with information is asked to contact NJSP Detective Alex Angerman at 856-451-0101.
