SOUTH WHITEHALL TWP., Pa. — Parkland High School teachers reported suspected misconduct by former performing arts administrator Frank Anonia more than a decade before his arrest on charges of secretly recording a student in a dressing room, a former teacher at the school testified earlier this year.
In October 2024, Lehigh County detectives charged Anonia, 44, of Allentown, with multiple counts of invasion of privacy and other crimes for allegedly video-recording a student changing in a boys’ dressing room at the school’s theater in 2021.
Anonia faces 19 charges in all; his trial is scheduled to begin Tuesday.Lehigh County Court records
Currently, Anonia, who once headed Parkland schools’ arts programs, faces 19 charges in all.
His criminal trial is scheduled to begin Tuesday in Lehigh County Court. He remains free on under $50,000 bail.
Separately in 2021, four former students sued Parkland School District for allegedly failing to prevent former teacher Christian Willman from sexually abusing students.
As part of that civil lawsuit, court records show, attorney Stewart Ryan took testimony under oath from former Parkland High teacher Elizabeth Smith, who left the district a few years ago.
Court filings include a text message Smith sent last year saying that she and at least one other Parkland employee went to administrators “over and over again” about another teacher whose relationship with a student they found suspicious.
Ryan said he does not recall to whom Smith sent the text.
“I went to [Director of Visual and Performing Arts Mark Stutz], vice principals, and union reps,” the text message reads. “We reported what we did see that didn’t feel right but we had no proof.”
Smith and Stutz, Anonia's predecessor as performing arts director, did not respond to online messages from LehighValleyNews.com sent Friday, seeking comment.
No record of how officials reacted
According to court records, Smith said she had been referring to Anonia’s relationship with a then-student, identified as William Marshall.
Among the concerning behavior Smith saw, she told Ryan, was an episode where Anonia and Marshall visited an amusement park during school hours without other students or district staff.
During his own deposition, Anonia said he and Marshall started a romantic relationship eight months after Marshall’s graduation from Parkland in 2013.
"We have no information that we had received any reports prior to what we received on April 4, 2024, when Mr. Anonia was put on leave.”Parkland School District spokesperson in an email
Filings do not include any indication of how exactly district officials reacted to the reports, or whether anyone notified the state-run ChildLine abuse reporting hotline.
In an emailed statement, a spokesperson for Parkland School District wrote Saturday that “we have no information that we had received any reports prior to what we received on April 4, 2024, when Mr. Anonia was put on leave.”
The civil case involving the former students suing Parkland School District and Willman is scheduled to go to trial in Lehigh County Court in December.
While Ryan said he is not sure how the district handled reports about Anonia’s alleged misconduct, he argued the episode is part of a pattern of downplaying or disregarding allegations of abuse.
“I don't know exactly what happened next," Ryan said. "I can certainly provide some educated guesses, given the fact that Anonia continued working there, right?
“It's disturbing how reports like this seem to be handled.”
Investigation, and charges
Marshall, now 30 years old, was arrested in March 2023 at a home Anonia owned; he ultimately pleaded guilty to a single charge of child pornography.
Police said that investigation began after Snapchat filed a tipline report of a user posting images of child sexual abuse material. Investigators traced the IP address to Anonia's home, executed a search warrant and seized Marshall's iPhone, according to court records.
Anonia continued to work at Parkland until April 2024, when he was suspended amid a reported investigation. He resigned his position in June 2024 — four months before his arrest.
Attorneys for Anonia and Marshall did not respond to messages left over the weekend requesting comment.
Anonia trial set to begin
Lehigh County detectives said the investigation into criminal charges against Anonia began in April 2024.
According to court records, he is alleged to have had inappropriate contact with a juvenile male member of a school musical in 2022, although no charges have been filed in connection with that.
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.
Investigators found five separate video files which authorities say Anonia secretly recorded in 2021 by hiding his phone in the Parkland High School Auditorium boys' dressing room.
According to court filings, the videos showed a student in the play "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat."
The student confirmed to authorities he was the one in the videos, charging documents state.
He confirmed they were taken from practices and dress rehearsals for the musical and were recorded without his consent.
