An elementary school janitor in New Jersey is being accused of performing sexual acts with school objects and contaminating cafeteria utensils and food with bodily fluids and bleach.
The school employee, 25-year-old Giovanni Impellizzeri, posted videos of himself on social media committing the obscene acts at the Elizabeth Moore School in Upper Deerfield Township where he worked.
School authorities received multiple screenshots and videos of the social media posts and alerted New Jersey State Police on Oct. 30. In the videos, Impellizzeri was shown performing sexual acts with inanimate objects at the school.
He allegedly contaminated utensils and food products with bodily fluids that included saliva, urine and feces that were offered for consumption to students and staff, said the Office of Cumberland County Prosecutor Jennifer Webb-McRae. The janitor also allegedly subjected items in another area of the school to personal bodily fluids.
New Jersey State Police Detectives recovered items matching or resembling those in the videos.
On Oct. 31, Impellizzeri was arrested and charged with aggravated assault, two counts of tampering with food products, endangering the welfare of a child, and attempt to endanger the welfare of a child. On Nov. 2, an additional charge of official misconduct was authorized by the court.
Upon hearing the news, some disturbed parents of students at the school pulled their children out of class, reports say.
"I covered my mouth and started crying," school parent Bianca Pierce told NBC Philadelphia. "I had no words. I mean, what can you say to a situation where somebody was doing those disgusting things in the school where your child’s supposed to be safe? I felt like I was stabbed in the heart."
The Upper Deerfield Township School District, where the janitor has been employed since 2019, has fully cooperated with authorities, the Cumberland County prosecutor's office said.
"The school district is working closely with the Cumberland County Department of Health to ensure food preparation, serving utensils and surfaces have been properly sanitized and any food products in question have been discarded," the prosecutor's office said in a press release.
"In addition, authorities are taking steps to collect bodily fluid specimens from the defendant to determine if there is any potential for infectious disease transmission to those that consumed food at the school. Once a determination is made, notification and next steps will be provided by the health department to ensure the health and safety of those involved," the statement continued.
Impellizzeri remains at Cumberland County Jail pending a detention hearing filed by the state.
An investigation remains open and ongoing.
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