#NJ high school gym teacher charged with having sex with student

Enlarge Image

Gary Jiampetti
Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office

A New Jersey high school gym teacher is facing charges for having sex with a student, prosecutors said.

Gary Jiampetti, a 43-year-old health and physical education teacher at Rancocas Valley Regional High School in Mount Holly, was charged Thursday with official misconduct after being taken into custody at his home in Berlin, the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office announced.

Jiampetti allegedly had a consensual sexual relationship with a female student that occurred prior to the 2019-20 school year. The student, who was not a minor at the time, has since graduated, prosecutors said.

Additional details about the allegations were not provided to protect the former student’s identity. An investigation was launched after Mount Holly Township police and prosecutors received a tip that Jiampetti may have been involved in “inappropriate behavior” with female students, according to Burlington County Prosecutor Scott Coffina.

Rancocas Valley Regional High School Superintendent Christopher Heilig told parents and staffers in a letter Thursday that Jiampetti is no longer allowed on the school’s campus or at any related events, the Burlington County Times reports.

“When our administration learned of distressing allegations made by former students involving this staff member, we immediately contacted the Mount Holly Police and Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office to request a full and thorough investigation,” Heilig said.

Heilig also declined to provide additional information about the allegations, citing an ongoing investigation and a “personnel matter,” according to his letter.

Jiampetti earned just over $79,000 while working at the school in 2019 and has been enrolled in the state’s pension system since 2001, the newspaper reports.

Jiampetti is expected to make his first court appearance in Superior Court in Mount Holly on Friday, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports.