ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Attorneys for a former Parkland High School arts administrator charged with secretly recording a student in a dressing room have asked a Lehigh County judge to throw out potentially key evidence.
Frank Anonia's attorney, Richard Coble, at a county court hearing Tuesday asked Judge Robert Steinberg to prevent prosecutors from introducing the contents of Anonia's cell phone as evidence.
The defense says Anonia's cell phone's contents include five video recordings that were obtained illegally by officials.Frank Anonia's attorney, Richard Coble
Coble last month filed the motion that was the subject of Tuesday's hearing.
It said the cell phone's contents include five video recordings, obtained illegally by officials.
In 2024, Lehigh County prosecutors charged Anonia with 28 criminal counts.
Investigators said they searched Anonia’s cell phone and recovered five video files that show a student changing in a boys’ dressing room near Parkland High’s theater during rehearsals for a musical.
The student shown in the recordings did not know they were being filmed, investigators wrote in court filings.
According to court documents, county detectives seized Anonia’s cell phone in February 2023, more than a year before Anonia’s arrest, as part of an investigation into William Marshall, a 30-year-old Allentown man who previously lived in Anonia’s home.
Anonia was not charged in connection with that investigation, but he never got his phone back.
Defense: Detectives lied
Lehigh County detectives began investigating Anonia in April 2024, after receiving a ChildLine report that Anonia made sexually suggestive comments to a student who was largely undressed while changing clothes in a dressing room.
As part of that investigation, county detective Gregg Dietz interviewed Anonia on April 16.
During the interview, Anonia signed a form typically used to grant permission for authorities to search a cell phone.
The form’s usual title, “consent to search a cellular telephone,” was crossed out; above it, Dietz wrote “Abandon iphone w/ unicorn case/ipad” in black pen.
Prosecutors argue the form means Anonia officially abandoned his cell phone, giving investigators permission to perform a search.
Coble argues in his filings that Dietz lied to Anonia, telling him that the form granted authorities permission to wipe and destroy the seized cell phone, not to search it.
Because Anonia did not freely consent to the search, Coble argues, investigators searched the cell phone illegally, and should not be allowed to use what they found in a trial.
Coble also contends that investigators did not have enough probable cause to receive a warrant to search the phone.
Foundation of prosecution's case
During the Tuesday hearing, Coble told Judge Steinberg that the cell phone is the foundation of the prosecution’s case.
A Lehigh County District Attorney’s office spokeswoman declined to comment on the case because it's pending.
To Judge Steinberg’s irritation, Coble filed the motion “way after” a deadline for pre-trial filings expired, he said.
“This is a question of you avoiding the rules. You pretty much did nothing until August eighth.”Judge Robert Steinberg, to defense attorney Richard Coble
During Tuesday’s hearing, Steinberg chastised the defense, saying it appeared Coble tried to delay an already-scheduled trial with a clearly late filing.
“This is a question of you avoiding the rules,” Steinberg told Coble. “You pretty much did nothing until August eighth.”
Coble told the court he could not have filed the motion any earlier because prosecutors did not turn over some key evidence until recently.
The prosecutor handling the case, First Assistant District Attorney Sara Moyer, disagreed; she said Coble had plenty of time to file, and was late only because of his own inaction.
Despite his obvious displeasure, Steinberg will hear arguments on whether to allow prosecutors to use evidence recovered from Anonia’s cell phone on Oct. 8.
Anonia's trial, which was scheduled to start with jury selection Tuesday, has been delayed.
