A Lower Merion teacher pleaded guilty to posing as a teen girl on Snapchat in order to solicit nude photos from underage girls.
Jeremy Schobel, 32, of Philadelphia, was convicted of child pornography on Monday, NBC10's newsgathering partner KYW Newsradio reported.
His sentencing is scheduled for June 25 and he could get a maximum of 170 years in prison, according to KYW Newsradio.
The investigation began on November 14, 2022, when the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) received a tip from the social media app Yubo that a user connected to two accounts was “grooming” minors online while pretending to be a 17-year-old girl. The user said they were looking for a “girl-to-girl relationship" and redirected the conversation to the social media app Snapchat, according to the criminal complaint.
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Investigators later determined the user was actually an adult male who they identified as Schobel.
Investigators said Schobel continued to pose as a girl on Snapchat as well and solicited nude photos and videos of an underage girl while repeatedly chatting with her on the app between Christmas Eve 2022 and March 29, 2023.
Investigators later learned Schobel was an English teacher at Harriton High School in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania.
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On June 2, 2023, investigators obtained a federal search warrant for Schobel’s home. On June 7, members of the FBI Philadelphia Division’s Child Exploitation Task Force then executed the search warrant at the home and arrested Schobel.
While speaking with investigators, Schobel admitted to creating fake profiles on Yubo and Snapchat to pose as teen girls and solicit sexual photos from underage girls. Schobel said he had committed similar crimes for years and communicated with many teen girls between the ages of 16 and 18.
Investigators also said the search warrant issued for Schobel’s Snapchat accounts revealed hundreds of purported underage victims and thousands of pornographic images and videos distributed and received by Schobel.
In a statement to parents last week, a spokesperson said the Lower Merion School District suspended Schobel and terminated his access to school district devices and networks.
“Mr. Schobel joined the Lower Merion School District prior to the start of the 2021-2022 school year,” the spokesperson wrote at the time. “He had no prior record that would have precluded his hiring. While we understand that this is an ongoing investigation, at this time, LMSD is not aware of any inappropriate interactions between Mr. Schobel and LMSD students. Additionally, the District had not received any complaints or concerns from students or staff regarding his conduct in school.”
While Schobel denied targeting any of his students on Yubu and Snapchat, multiple students came forward following his arrest and accused him of connecting with them on the social media apps, investigators said. One student accused Schobel of sending her pornographic images of a teen girl he was impersonating, according to the criminal complaint.
“The charges in this complaint are just the beginning – agents have already confirmed hundreds of potential victims, some of whom were his students at the high school where he taught,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Michelle Rotella wrote in the criminal complaint. “The scope of how many children the defendant victimized continues to widen as the investigation progresses.”
According to KYW Newsradio, Schobel may have had hundreds of victims and so far six have been identified.
