A South Jersey school janitor who allegedly urinated in students’ food said he was a ‘satanist’ and wanted to sicken the children, prosecutor says

An elementary school janitor accused of contaminating food and cafeteria utensils with bleach and bodily fluids said he was a “satanist” and wanted to sicken students, a prosecutor said Thursday.

In video recordings posted on social media that led to his arrest last month, Giovanni Impellizzeri said contaminating food and items fulfilled a sexual fetish, Assistant Cumberland County Prosecutor Lindsey Seidel said at a detention hearing.

Impellizzeri is accused of spraying bleach on food, spitting and rubbing his genitals on cooking utensils, and wiping slices of bread on his body and returning them to a container. It is believed the contaminated food was likely served to students and staff at Elizabeth F. Moore School in Upper Deerfield Township, authorities said.

Impellizzeri, 25, of Vineland, had worked at the school since 2019. He was arrested Oct. 31 and charged with aggravated assault, tampering with food, endangering the welfare of a child, and official misconduct.

Seidel shared disturbing new allegations about the incidents at school and elsewhere at the hearing Thursday. The allegations were culled from videos and messages that Impellizzeri made online on at least three occasions in October, she said.

In one clip, Impellizzeri said he “decided to wipe the bread that they’re going to use for lunch tomorrow at the school on my ass and then throw them on the floor and stepped on them, and put them back for them to use,” according to the prosecutor.

“I had to piss, so I just decided to piss in their dishes that they make the kids food in,” she quoted him saying. Impellizzeri also said he placed feces in taco meat, she said. He also claimed that he used a sponge from the teacher’s lounge to wipe down urinals and toilets and returned it to the lounge, she said.

“He attempted to poison their food and laughed about it, saying that he hoped they would get sick,” the prosecutor said. “He did all of this while recording himself to share as part of his perversion.”

Impellizzeri was also charged earlier this week with distribution of child pornography and possession of child pornography. Prosecutors said they found material depicting an infant and prepubescent boys, and allege he distributed child pornography in October.

In addition to the alleged contamination at the school, Impellizzeri bragged about committing other “heinous acts” in at least one other location, a tanning salon where he urinated on a wall, the prosecutor said.

“If I have to piss, I just go wherever. Someone else can clean that shit up. It’s not my problem,” he said, according to a social media post read by the prosecutor.

At the hearing Thursday, Seidel argued that Impellizzeri posed a risk to the community and should remain in the county jail pending trial. Superior Court Judge Cristen P. D’Arrigo agreed, finding that there were no release conditions that could be imposed “that would be adequate” to protect the community.

“The facts of the case are appalling,” Seidel said. “If he can’t control himself in an elementary school setting full of children, what is to stop him from attempting similar things in a McDonald’s or in a grocery store?”

The judge said he was especially concerned by the allegations about a desire to sicken students. The school enrolls about 240 students in grades 3 to 5.

“The fact that he specifically indicates that that was his objective to make them sick all demonstrates how much of a risk he is to the community at large if released,” the judge said.

Public Defender Emily Bell, who represented Impellizzeri, argued that he could be safely released with monitoring. She said he has strong ties to the community and support from his family.

Bell said Impellizzeri has a long history of mental illness and was undergoing treatment. She said his case is one of someone “screaming for help.”

“Treatment while these acts were taking place?” the judge asked.

Authorities began investigating after receiving anonymous tips about the social media posts that appeared to show Impellizzeri in a school setting performing sexual acts with inanimate objects.

School Superintendent Peter Koza said the district hired AllRisk Property Damage Experts to clean and sanitize the school. The county health department tested bodily samples from Impellizzeri to check for communicable diseases and determined he likely does not pose any health risks to the school community.

A pre-indictment conference for Impellizzeri is scheduled for Dec. 14 at 9 a.m.