Julie Rizzitello, a 37-year-old English teacher at Wall Township High School in New Jersey, has been sentenced to 10 years in prison after admitting she took advantage of two of her students, including one she groomed from his freshman year and later became pregnant by.
The disturbing details were laid out in Monmouth County court as Rizzitello was formally sentenced after pleading guilty to two counts of second-degree intimate misdemeanor.
Prosecutors then revealed a concerning finding, explaining that Rizzitello not only convinced the first teenage student – who was approximately 15 years old at the time – to have relations with her, but also to do so unprotected.
She then informed him she had aborted the baby.
A 37-year-old English teacher was sentenced to 10 years in prison after grooming two students, getting pregnant by one
Image credits: Asbury Park Press/Thomas P. Costello
According to prosecutors, Rizzitello began grooming the first boy in 2017, when he was a freshman. She told him she dreamed of sleeping with him. The relationship became intimate later that year and continued into 2018.
During sentencing, Monmouth County Judge Jill Grace O’Malley addressed the emotional toll on the teen.
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“Not only does he have to deal with the fact that he’s groomed throughout his entire high school years, that he was preyed upon by his teacher who he loved and trusted… that he was s**ually ab*sed by this teacher,” the judge said.
“But now he’s struggling to come to terms with the fact that this individual had an abortion and [he] wasn’t comfortable with it. This is the psychological impact, the devastation…”
Image credits: Asbury Park Press/Thomas P. Costello
The judge made clear that the court did not view the relationship as consensual or reciprocal, rejecting any attempt to frame it as mutual before addressing the nature of the conduct directly, and how often she encounters it.
Image credits: Wall High School
“This is grooming. It is traditional grooming that I see every week here in this courthouse. This is the behavior of a standard s**ual predator. You’re no different,” she told Rizzitello.
When the former teacher reportedly shook her head in disagreement, the judge interrupted her: “Stop shaking your head … These are the facts.”
The teacher employed both teenagers at her family-owned bagel shop to spend extra time with them
Image credits: Wall High School
Prosecutors said the ab*se was not limited to one victim. Rizzitello later targeted another student, an 18-year-old, in early 2024.
She admitted to having encounters with each student separately, including at her home, in parking lots, and at her family-owned bagel shop, where both boys worked at different times.
Image credits: Law&Crime Network
This detail, as per prosecutors, adds a significant layer to the case because it speaks directly to the mechanics of grooming.
By arranging for the students to work for her family, she created opportunities for extended contact outside the classroom while also placing herself in an additional position of authority over them.
Image credits: Law&Crime Network
After her arrest in July 2024, authorities said she contacted both victims and asked them to delete potential evidence from their phones and devices.
Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond S. Santiago described the conduct as calculated.
Image credits: Asbury Park Press/Doug Hood
“These crimes were not isolated incidents constituting moments of poor judgment; they were textbook cases of grooming, involving a defendant who repeatedly leveraged tactics of isolation, manipulation, and control for the sake of her own selfish purposes,” Santiago said.
“The egregious nature of the conduct was further compounded by the plain fact that the emotional and psychological harm she inflicted came at the expense of two of the very same young minds she had been entrusted to develop and nurture.”
Many readers refused to take the case seriously, joking that the victim had gotten “lucky”
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The pregnancy, revealed in court, made clear how completely the boundaries between authority and exploitation had collapsed.
According to court testimony, Rizzitello persuaded the freshman to have unprotected relations with her on his birthday and later informed him she was pregnant. She subsequently told him she had terminated the pregnancy.
Online, however, the reaction was fractured. Many readers appeared unable to take the case seriously because of the genders of those involved, framing the teenage victim as “lucky” and dismissing the ab*se altogether.
Image credits: Stephanie Faughnan
“Someone get him the ‘Luckiest Boy in School’ medal,” one commenter wrote. While another suggested the teen was hardly harmed, saying, “Like the ‘father’ was heartbroken. He’s more like ‘huh, what.’”
“How come all my female teachers were in their 60s pushing 270 on the scale?” a third asked.
“It’s always the attractive ones.” Netizens shared their thoughts on the case on social media
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