A Brick Township woman who resigned this week from her position as a teacher at Wall Township High School has been charged criminally with having a sexual relationship with a student, prosecutors announced July 4.
Julie Rizzitello, 36, of Brick, who submitted her resignation earlier this week, is charged with two counts of second-degree sexual assault, third-degree witness tampering, and three counts of fourth-degree criminal sexual contact.
Rizzitello and the Student Engaged in Sexual Acts on Multiple Occasions
According to a statement from prosecutors, an investigation by the Monmouth and Ocean County prosecutor's offices as well as Brick and Wall police, revealed that the alleged criminal conduct by Rizzitello began earlier this year.
On multiple occasions and in at least three jurisdictions of Belmar, Brick, and Wall, Rizzitello allegedly engaged in various sexual acts with the victim. The "collaborative investigation," the statement said, resulted in charges being filed both in Monmouth (on the Belmar and Wall offenses) and Ocean (on the Brick offenses) counties.
Rizzitello was arrested without incident Wednesday and transported to the Monmouth County Correctional Institution, where she remains incarcerated pending a detention hearing to take place in Monmouth County Superior Court.
Rizzitello was Employed as an English Teacher with the School District for a Decade
Rizzitello was employed with the Wall Township school district and her page has since been removed from the district's website. But, an archived copy of the webpage had her listed as an English teacher who had been with the district for 10 years.
Rizzitello is the second educator in Monmouth County in the past week to face allegations of having a sexual relationship with a student.
On Saturday, 43-year-old Allison Havemann-Niedrach, of Jackson, was arrested and charged with aggravated sexual assault and endangering the welfare of a child. The charges stemmed from allegations during her time working at a middle school in the Freehold Borough School District, officials said.
