SOUTH WHITEHALL TWP., Pa. — The administrator who once headed Parkland schools’ arts programs and quietly resigned during an internal investigation earlier this year now faces criminal charges.
Francis "Frank" Anonia, 43, was charged Monday with multiple counts of invasion of privacy, criminal use of a communication facility and other offenses, court paperwork shows.
Anonia was arrested Tuesday and arraigned by District Judge Jacob Hammond. Hammond ordered Anonia to Lehigh County Jail under $50,000 bail, according to the Lehigh County District Attorney's office.
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for 10:15 a.m. Oct. 21.
According to a criminal complaint, Anonia had inappropriate contact with a juvenile male member of a school musical in 2022.
The student took the allegations to a teacher, who reported them to ChildLine, a hotline that allows people to reported suspected child abuse or neglect.
As the investigation continued, it also revealed five separate video files extracted from Anonia's phone that he allegedly recorded in 2021 while it was hidden on a shelf in the Parkland High School Auditorium boys' changing room, authorities said.
According to the affidavit, the videos showed a student in the play "Joseph and the Amazing Technocolor Dreamcoat."
The student confirmed to authorities he was the one in the videos, the affidavit states. He acknowledged they were taken from practices and dress rehearsals for the musical and were recorded without his consent.
Timeline
The charges against Anonia are related to the reported 2021 incident and come six months after LehighValleyNews.com first reported on concerns from parents regarding Anonia's absence from the district.
An email to parents in April from schools Superintendent Mark Madson addressed Anonia's absence in the spring. The email obtained by LehighValleyNews.com confirmed Anonia was the subject of an internal investigation.
On June 18, the Parkland School Board accepted Anonia’s resignation without addressing it.
He had been Parkland’s director of visual and performing arts since 2021.
The board accepted Anonia’s resignation as part of a group of personnel matters presented to the board.
Neither Madson nor any members of the board spoke about his resignation during the meeting.
Anonia’s tenure at Parkland
Anonia started working at Parkland in 2007 as a teacher and choral director; he was promoted to performing arts director in 2021.
His removal from school came days before 29-year-old William Marshall, a former Parkland student who lived with Anonia, was sentenced in Lehigh County Court on April 11 to 11-and-a-half to 23 months in county prison.
Authorities said Marshall possessed child pornography and accessed it through Anonia’s home Wi-Fi. Anonia was not charged in connection with Marshall’s case.
However, at the time, Allentown police seized Anonia's phone for their investigation of the Marshall case.
According to the affidavit, county detectives after learning of the 2021 allegations obtained Anonia's phone from Allentown police evidence and conduced a forensic examination.
That's when the changing room videos were found, authorities said.
The district attorney's office said Anonia’s cellphone originally never was analyzed because he was not suspected or charged with any criminal behavior related to the investigation of Marshall.
"However, Anonia never requested that his cellphone be
returned to him and it remained in the possession of the police," the district attorney's office said in a release.
The lawsuit was filed by five former students against the Parkland and Palisades school district and former teacher Christian Willman.
In January 2020, Willman pleaded guilty in Bucks County Court to abusing six girls — two from Palisades and four from Parkland — and was sentenced to six to 12 years in state prison.
Anonia’s role in the case and details of his deposition — the assaults at Parkland occurred before Willman left in 2011 to teach at Palisades — have not been made public.
Parkland 'cooperating with' authorities
In an email to parents Monday night, Madson called the criminal allegations by Lehigh County detectives against Anonia "disturbing and inexcusable."
"Our students’ physical and emotional safety will continue to be the first priority of the Parkland School District and we remain committed to transparency and cooperating with the legal authorities as it relates to this matter," the email said.
Madson said the district may not be able to disclose additional information "to protect the privacy rights of all involved and to maintain integrity of the investigation."
He asked those with information related to the charges to contact the Lehigh County District Attorney's Office.
On Tuesday morning, parents of children in the district told LehighValleyNews.com there will be calls for Madson's resignation, as well as the resignation of Parkland High School Principal Nathan Davidson.
