SOUTH WHITEHALL TWP., Pa. — Parkland School District officials formally addressed the public after its former arts administrator Frank Anonia was arrested Tuesday, accused of secretly filming a student in a changing room.
Francis "Frank" Anonia, 43, was charged in a warrant Monday with multiple counts of invasion of privacy, criminal use of a communication facility and other offenses, court paperwork shows.
He quietly resigned while under investigation earlier this year, with the revelation coming months after LehighValleyNews.com first reported on concerns from parents regarding Anonia's absence from the district.
Superintendent Mark Madson addressed the criminal action against Anonia, emphasizing that due to the personnel and legal matters involved, limited information is available from the district at this time.
"Today's announcement regarding Mr. Anonia is obviously distressing to our school community," Madson said.
"The allegations are shocking, disturbing and inexcusable. Our students, physical and emotional safety will continue to be the first priority of Parkland School District who remain committed to transparency and continued cooperation with the legal authorities as it relates to this matter, to protect our students the privacy rights of all involved, and to maintain the integrity of the ongoing police investigation, the district may not be able to disclose additional information."
He said the district was alerted on April 4 of information concerning Anonia. Following this, Madson says Anonia was put under an internal investigation, suspended and removed from the school community, and that upon his resignation in June the district "promptly notified all main mandated agencies."
"As a result of this, a separate criminal investigation occurred. That separate investigation uncovered the alleged prior conduct for which Mr. Anonia is now being charged. The district was notified of these charges last week," Madson said.
"Our counseling team is available to provide support to any students who may need it during this difficult time. Thank you for your attention and understanding as we navigate this difficult situation together, our strength as a community will see us through this challenging time. We will have no further comment on this matter at this time."
Parents express anger while district defends actions
A small but vocal group of district residents voiced disdain toward the district, with two speakers alleging that it was not being transparent throughout the concerns with Anonia.
District parent Lauren Vargas called for the resignation of the superintendent, alleging that there was a "pervasive culture of sexual abuse and obfuscation that Mr. Madson has allowed to exist in this community."
She said that there was a "careless" lack of sufficient communication between the district and parents of district children, particularly those involved in the drama production discussed in the legal filings, and accused the district of allowing Anonia to have access to students while under suspicion of misconduct.
"I am saddened to see lack of other parents from the music department here this evening," Vargas said.
"What I'm going to offer is because they're sick and tired of asking and being shot down — when you don't get information, we stop showing up."
Later in the meeting, district officials offered a response to the concerns, with many saying that the district had met its legal obligation and was working hard behind the scenes — but is restricted on how it could communicate further with the public.
"Safety of our children is first in our minds, and we never lose sight of that, and our administration has that in their sights at all times,"Robert Cohen
"Safety of our children is first in our minds, and we never lose sight of that, and our administration has that in their sights at all times," school board director Robert Cohen said.
"I'm very challenged to speak of the details, because they are held in strict confidence, and it's disappointing that I cannot share the extent that this administration has done to protect our children, but it is my confident opinion that we are in good hands."
School board director Chris Pirrotta encouraged residents to attend the school district Community Action Council meeting on Thursday, where the district's "Vision 2030" plans will be discussed with local residents.
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.
He encouraged those with information related to the charges to contact the Lehigh County District Attorney's Office.
Anonia's alleged misconduct
A preliminary hearing for Anonia is scheduled for 10:15 a.m. Oct. 21.
According to a Lehigh County 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, five separate video files were extracted from Anonia's phone that he allegedly recorded in 2021 while it was hidden in the Parkland High School Auditorium boys' changing room, authorities said.
According to the affidavit, the alleged action took place during a production of "Joseph and the Amazing Technocolor Dreamcoat."
An email to parents in April from 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, and was a teacher and choral arts director before that, joining Parkland in 2007.
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. A later forensic investigation as part of the Lehigh County detectives' investigation revealed the videos referenced in the affidavit, 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.
