A male Pennsylvania teacher has been arrested after he allegedly pretended to be a 17-year-old girl on social media and persuaded teen girls to create and send him child pornography, something he allegedly admitted to doing for years, CBS News reports.
Police executed a search warrant this week at the Philadelphia home of Jeremy Schobel, where they arrested him.
The investigation was launched in November, when the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received a tip from the social media app Yubo reporting that a user appeared to be “grooming” minors online.
Investigators were able to link multiple social media profiles allegedly used by Schobel to the same telephone number. The user of at least one of the accounts reportedly said they were seeking a “girl-to-girl relationship” and also sought to communicate with minors by Snapchat, according to NBC Philadelphia.
Authorities allege that Schobel posed as a girl on Snapchat and asked an underage girl to send nude videos and images.
In response to one explicit video, the 31-year-old married man allegedly told a teen: “Omfg….I love u….Literally,” according to The Philadelphia Inquirer, citing court documents.
Schobel allegedly admitted to police that he created fake profiles pretending to be teen girls and used those profiles to solicit sexual images from the girls. He said he had engaged in a similar activity for years in communications with teen girls aged 16 to 18, according to NBC Philadelphia.
Schobel is an English teacher at Harriton High School in the Lower Merion School District, but his employment is presently suspended.
“Pending the disposition of this matter, Mr. Schobel’s employment has been suspended and his access to district devices and networks has been terminated,” the district said in a statement, according to CBS News.
District officials said they were not aware of any inappropriate interactions between Schobel and students, Fox 29 reports, and counselors are being made available to students and staff.
Before working at Harriton High School, Schobel taught English and coached girls’ softball at Philadelphia High School for Creative and Performing Arts, according to his wedding announcement from 2018.
Charges against Schobel include manufacturing child pornography and enticing a minor to engage in illicit conduct, according to the Inquirer.
Schobel’s next court appearance is scheduled for Tuesday.
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[Feature Photo: Jeremy Schobel/Facebook]
