Acting Bergen County Prosecutor Dennis Calo announced the arrest of Stephanie A. Carafa, 32, of Lodi, on charges of Aggravated Criminal Sexual Contact and Endangering The Welfare Of A Child.
The arrest is the result of an investigation conducted by the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office under the direction of Chief Robert Anzilotti and the Lodi Police Department under the direction of Chief Donald Scorzetti.
According to police, on Friday, October 26th, the Lodi Police Department received information that Carafa, a school teacher at Thomas Jefferson Middle School in Lodi, had exchanged explicit photographs and videos with a juvenile under the age of sixteen.
Officials say an investigation by the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office Special Victims Unit and the Lodi Police Department revealed that Carafa also engaged in inappropriate sexual conduct with a student who was under the age of sixteen.
Police arrested Carafa on Saturday, October 27, then charged her with one count of Endangering the Welfare of a Child, in violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:24A, a 2nd-degree crime; and one count of Aggravated Criminal Sexual Contact, in violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:14-3A, a 3rd-degree crime.
Officials say she is scheduled for a detention hearing in Hackensack, NJ on Friday, November 2nd at 9:00 a.m.
Acting Prosecutor Calo states that the charges are merely accusations and that the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, and would also like to thank the Lodi Police Department for its assistance in the investigation.