Former New Jersey teacher Julie Rizzitello sentenced to 10 years for sex crimes involving two students after Wall Township High School educator admitted sexual relationships including pregnancy, judge calls acts predatory abuse of trust

A former teacher at Wall Township High School has been sentenced to 10 years in prison after admitting to sexual relationships with two students, including one who impregnated her, in a case a judge described as predatory abuse of authority.

Rizzitello, 37, pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree sexual assault following an investigation that found she engaged in sexual acts with students over multiple years. Authorities said she met her first victim when he was a freshman and repeatedly invited him to her classroom during lunch before the relationship became sexual between 2017 and 2018. On one occasion, she allegedly encouraged unprotected sex, later becoming pregnant and undergoing an abortion.

During sentencing in Monmouth County, Judge Jill Grace said the former educator groomed her victims and caused lasting psychological harm.

“Not only does he have to deal with the fact that he’s groomed throughout his entire high school years … that he was sexually abused by this teacher,” the judge said, adding that the emotional impact had been devastating for the victim, who later dropped out of college.

 

Prosecutors said Rizzitello later became involved with a second student, then an 18-year-old junior, between April and June 2024. Investigators said she built friendly relationships with both victims before initiating sexual contact and arranged for them to work at her family’s business, where some encounters allegedly occurred. Authorities also stated she contacted the victims during the investigation and urged them to delete evidence.

Rizzitello was arrested in July 2024, days after resigning from her teaching job, after school officials received an anonymous tip. Her attorneys requested a reduced five-year sentence citing her lack of prior criminal history and her role as a mother, but the court denied the request.

She must now serve the 10-year sentence, will be under lifetime parole supervision, must register as a sex offender, and is permanently barred from teaching or contacting the victims.

Sean O’Halloran, chief of the Wall Township Police Department, called the case a “betrayal of trust” and praised the victims for coming forward, saying protecting young people remains a top priority for his department.