20-year-old John Mallozzi, of Horsham.
Though the criminal complaint states that the incident involved Mallozzi and two juvenile female counselors, Sowers said it was important to note that the incident itself did not occur during camp, and no campers were involved. Sowers said the incident occurred months prior to the camp activities, and when the directors were notified about it in July 2019, they fired Mallozzi and contacted the police.
“This came to our attention and we followed protocol by handing it to the proper authorities,” said Sowers, later adding, “Our protocol is to submit the information to police through child line.”
Sowers stated that after the camp became aware of the incident, they spoke with the parents of the juveniles involved to inform them of what was going on. He also confirmed that the camp did not notify the other families of other campers regarding Mallozzi’s arrest.
Beyond that, Sowers said that he was unaware of Mallozzi’s arrest until North Penn Now requested comment.
An investigation was launched by the Whitpain Township Police Department on July 15, after receiving a child-line referral regarding 20-year-old John Mallozzi, of Horsham, who was serving as an instructor at the Be Your Best Lacrosse Camp. The complaint states that a group of juvenile female instructors were discussing how "creepy” Mallozzi was, when one of them showed a fully nude photo that Mallozzi had allegedly sent to another underage female instructor during the previous year’s camp.
The complaint states that a male counselor then reported the incident to his boss, and on July 11, Mallozzi was terminated as a camp counselor. According to a parent of one of the campers, Be Your Best Lacrosse did not notify its members of Mallozzi’s arrest.
Camp officials did not respond to requests for comment.
On July 16, investigators spoke with the juvenile female counselor who displayed the nude photo of Mallozzi during the discussion. The juvenile female stated that during the summer of 2018, her friend—identified as juvenile victim #1—had received a message via Snapchat of Mallozzi standing fully nude in front of a mirror, the report states. The juvenile female told police that she used her phone to take a picture of the image on her friend’s phone, so as not to alert Mallozzi that they were taking a screenshot of the photo, according to the report. (Note: When a screenshot is taken of a message within the Snapchat application, the sender is notified.)
Police were able to secure the photo, which clearly shows a fully nude Mallozzi in front of a mirror, the complaint states.
Two days later, police spoke with juvenile victim #1, who stated that she had corresponded with Mallozzi via Instagram and Snapchat in the past, with most conversations centered on lacrosse camp. Juvenile victim #1 added that she was at the juvenile female counselor’s house during the summer of 2018 when she received the nude Snapchat image from Mallozzi, but she did not reply to it, the report states. Her friend then took a photo of the image with her phone, and both of the juvenile females deleted Mallozzi from Instagram and Snapchat, the report states.
On July 26, investigators spoke with Mallozzi, who allegedly confessed to asking numerous juvenile females to send nude photos to him, but added that all of his requests were ignored and no nude photos were received, the report states.
Charges were filed against Mallozzi on Aug. 12, including felony counts of criminal solicitation of child pornography and dissemination of explicit sexual material to a minor, and misdemeanor counts of corruption of minors and harassment.
Mallozzi was arraigned on Aug. 20 by Magisterial District Judge Suzan Leonard, who set bail at $10,000 unsecured. He was then released from custody, and his next court appearance is a preliminary hearing on Sept. 11 at 11 a.m. in front of Judge Leonard.
According to the Be Your Best Lacrosse Camp website, campers range in age from kindergarten to ninth grade, and the annual camp is held at the Wissahickon Middle School, located along the 500 block of Houston Road in Lower Gwynedd Township.
A parent of one of the campers, who spoke with North Penn Now on the condition of anonymity, said they were shocked to learn of Mallozzi’s arrest, and stated that they had not received any communication from the camp regarding his arrest and termination. The parent also stated that Mallozzi served as the counselor for the "Mighty Mights,” which is a group of the youngest campers, and added that he had a reputation for being strict.
Be Your Best Lacrosse Camp has not responded to multiple requests for comment. Should we receive a response to our questions or an official statement from the camp, we will update this article accordingly.
(Editor's note: All suspects and defendants are innocent until proven guilty. This story was compiled using court records, the affidavit of probable cause, and reflects the point of view of the police. Should the defendant choose to issue a public statement, or is later found not guilty or has the charges dropped, we will update this article accordingly.)
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Norristown Man Broke Into Lansdale Home, Abused Kitten: Police
Man Facing Charges After Fiery Crash On Dekalb Pike Monday Night
