A Cumberland County school custodian accused of contaminating food and cafeteria utensils with urine, feces and saliva will return to court Thursday for a hearing on his charges following a brief appearance Monday.
Giovanni Impellizzeri, 25, of Vineland, worked at Elizabeth F. Moore School in Upper Deerfield, where police allege he urinated on school cafeteria cooking utensils, spit and rubbed his genitals on bread and sprayed bleach on food items, then shared videos of his actions via a messaging app.
Impellizzeri, who has worked for the district since September 2019, was arrested last week and appeared in court via video from jail Monday morning for a detention hearing, but both the prosecution and his public defender sought more time to review the case.
He’s charged with second-degree official misconduct and third-degree counts of aggravated assault, tampering with food products, endangering the welfare of a child and attempted endangering the welfare of children.
“Video showed Giovanni Impellizzeri utilized multiple pieces of bread to wipe his penis, testicles, and anus, as well as spitting on the bread, before putting the bread back into the container to be later served to children at the school,” New Jersey State Police wrote in court documents, adding that he was seen “masturbating and urinating on pillows and kitchen bowls.”
Upper Deerfield Schools Superintendent Peter Koza sought to calm concerns by parents on Friday, saying in a letter to the school community that the district thoroughly cleaned and sanitized the building and had an independent contractor coming in over the weekend to inspect and provide additional cleaning.
In a Sunday evening message to parents, Koza stated that a contractor conducted a “thorough cleaning and sanitization of the entire Moore school” over the weekend and said all three district schools will continue to be cleaned and sanitized daily.
Additionally, any objects allegedly misused by Impellizzeri were either seized by investigators as evidence or discarded, he noted.
Based on the weekend cleaning and an inspection by the county Department of Health, the Moore school would be open as usual for classes on Monday, Koza said in the Sunday announcement.
Following calls by at least one parent for counselors in the schools to help students through the crisis, Koza also announced Sunday that additional counseling support would be available in the district on Monday.
“We are also arranging additional support for health-related questions,” Koza wrote.
Authorities said last week they were planning to collect bodily fluid samples from Impellizzeri to determine any potential for infectious disease transmission.
The health department recommended individuals contact their health care provider if they suspect any illness.
Parent Dawn Gilliard, who sought blood testing for her son on the recommendation of the family’s pediatrician on Friday, learned Monday that his tests came back negative.
While she was relieved by that news, she’s not taking any chances, saying she plans to pack his lunch each day from now on.
“I briefly told my son what was going on and we will pack his lunch every single day going forward,” she said Monday. “I told him he wasn’t allowed to touch anything in the cafeteria. It’s so sad that we have to subject our children to this.”
Some parents have criticized the school district for a lack of transparency over the matter and one of them created a petition demanding Koza’s resignation. The petition had gained 524 signatures as of Monday morning.
The Puerto Rican Action Committee of Southern New Jersey has called for a state Department of Education investigation into the handling of the matter.
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Matt Gray may be reached at [email protected].