The former performing arts director for Parkland School District left a Lehigh County courtroom in handcuffs Monday morning after pleading guilty to secretly recording a student changing clothes backstage during high school theater rehearsals and performances in 2021.
Francis Anonia, 44, of Allentown will be a registered sex offender under Megan’s Law for at least 15 years. If a state board finds that he is a sexually violent predator, he’ll be registered for life.
Anonia will be sentenced in February and faces a maximum state prison term of 44 to 88 years, though his attorney said he will argue for a much shorter county jail sentence.
Anonia rejected a plea deal to serve two to fours years behind bars. He pleaded guilty before Judge Robert L. Steinberg to multiple counts of invasion of privacy, unlawful recording and criminal use of a communications facility.
Anonia resigned from the district in June 2024. He had worked there since 2007.
The investigation began in April 2024 when a Parkland student reported to a teacher that he had “inappropriate contact” with Anonia, according to court testimony.
Detectives searched Anonia’s cellphone, which had been seized in 2023 during an unrelated investigation into Anonia’s live-in fiance and former student, William Marshall, who was accused of possessing child pornography. Marshall later pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 11 ½ to 23 months in Lehigh County Jail.
The cellphone, which police had not analyzed during the Marshall investigation, became the subject of a legal battle leading up to Monday’s plea.
Prosecutors said Anonia abandoned it during the investigation by leaving it in police custody and not requesting its return. Anonia’s lawyer, Richard Coble, asked a judge to throw out all evidence found on the cellphone, arguing that detectives searched the device illegally.
Prosecutors argued that the search was legal. Steinberg agreed and last week rejected the defense motion.
On the phone, detectives found five videos depicting a male student changing into theater costumes backstage, as well as screenshots from those videos. Chief Deputy District Attorney Sara Moyer said in court Monday that the videos also showed Anonia starting the recording and hiding the phone, then coming back later to retrieve the device.
After the hearing, Moyer said she will argue for a state prison sentence for Anonia, saying that his crimes were more egregious because he was a school employee who was only able to commit the crime because of his position.
“We put trust in our teachers and administrators who deal with children on a daily basis and his violation of that is significant,” she said.
Anonia was scheduled to stand trial this week. Moyer said the victim has been cooperative throughout the investigation and was ready to testify if needed.
Anonia did not testify Monday and no victims were called to the witness stand. Over Anonia’s attorney’s objections, Steinberg revoked Anonia’s $50,000 bail at the end of the hearing and he was sent to the county jail to await sentencing.
A message left for Parkland School District Superintendent Mark J. Madson seeking comment was not immediately returned.
Laurie Mason Schroeder is a freelance writer.
