Police: Former Lehigh Co. school admin charged after student secretly recorded

A former Parkland School District administrator has been charged with secretly recording a student without his consent, announced Lehigh County District Attorney Gavin Holihan.

Francis Anonia, 43, of Allentown, is charged with five counts each of Intercept Communications and Criminal Use of a Communication Facility, felonies of the third degree. He is also charged with nine counts of Invasion of Privacy, a misdemeanor of the second degree.

According to the Lehigh County DA’s office, on April 2, 2024, an investigation began after a complaint was made by a Childline Referral request about Anonia during his time at the Parkland School District.

A student alleged inappropriate behavior with Anonia back in 2022, prosecutors said.

Prior to the April 2024 investigation, on Feb. 23, 2023, Anonia’s phone had been seized by Allentown police in regard to an investigation surrounding Anonia’s fiancé, William Marshall, officials said.

In that investigation, Marshall entered a guilty plea to possession of child pornography and in April 2024 he was sentenced to jail in Lehigh County.

Anonia’s cell phone, seized during the investigation into his fiancé, was never analyzed because he was not suspected or charged with any criminal behavior related to the investigation of Marshall, officials said.

However, officials said, Anonia never requested that his cellphone be returned to him, and it remained in the possession of the police.

When the April 2024 investigation began, investigators said that they obtained a court order permitting them to gain access to Anonia’s cellphone.

During that search, the images he surreptitiously recorded of the student were discovered which led to the current charges, the DA’s office said.

According to a complaint, Anonia secretly recorded a student while they were undressing during a play rehearsal. Police said five videos were found on his phone.

Anonia was arraigned Tuesday afternoon and was sent to Lehigh County Jail under $50,000 bail. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for 10:15 a.m. October 21. 

During a meeting of the Parkland School District school board, school superintendent Mark Madson told a room full of parents of children enrolled in schools that the district began an investigation into Anonia after learning of "information concerning" him back in April.

Through that investigation, Madson said, Anonia was suspended and "removed from the school community."

Anonia, Madson said, resigned in June.

Madson said that the district only learned of criminal charges against Anonia on Monday, Oct. 14, 2024.

"Our strength as a community will get us through this challenging time," the superintendent said, before noting that the district would make no further comment on this case.

Yet, some in attendance seemed to want more answers from the superintendent.

One parent of students in the district, Lauren Vargas, said she was frustrated by the district's lack of transparency on Anonia's time at the school.

In fact, she called for Madson's resignation because of it.

"I am here, looking you directly in the eye, and I am calling for your resignation," she said. "I would like you to resign because you are putting these students of this school district -- elementary, middle, high school, across the board -- your decisions, you communication is placing them in dire risk."

Madson did not respond to the community member's input during Tuesday night's meeting.

This is not the first time the district has been faced with similar issues. Four years ago, the district was sued when former high school teacher and coach Christian Willman plead guilty after he was charged for allegedly sexually assaulting several students at the school.

"I can’t say this is one that surprises me what our lawsuit alleges and what we’ve learned through the discovery process is that Parkland has had and seemingly continues to have very serious shortcomings when it comes to supervising teachers and staff and keeping students safe," Attorney Stewart Ryan, who is representing five of Willman’s victims in a lawsuit against the district, said.

Trail for that lawsuit is set for next year.

“It takes unfortunately a village to abuse a child and when you see these school cases like we have in the Parkland case, that’s exactly what we believe occurred and we anticipate proving in trial," Ryan said.

This is a developing story. It will be updated as information becomes available.