Local teacher accused of posing as teenage girl online to solicit explicit images from girls
LOWER MERION, Pa. - A Pennsylvania high school teacher is facing charges after investigators say he posed as a teenage girl on a social media app to solicit naked pictures from young girls.
Jeremy Schobel, 32, was arrested Wednesday when federal authorities acting on a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children searched his home in Philadelphia.
A criminal complaint alleges that Schobel, an English teacher at Harriton High School in Lower Merion, posed as a 17-year-old girl on a social media app called Yubo.
Schobel, according to a court documents, was allegedly using the app to find a girl-to-girl relationship and redirecting conversations to Snapchat where he would ask for explicit images.
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Yubo closed two accounts that investigators said were linked to Schobel and contacted the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children about a user "grooming minors" online.
Authorities say after being arrest Schobel admitted to creating both fake profiles and posing as an underage girl to solicit explicit images of teenage girls.
He also admitted to communicating with girls between 16-years-old and 18-years-old for years prior to his recent arrest, according to a criminal complaint.
In a letter to families, the Lower Merion School District said they are not aware of any inappropriate interactions between Schobel and students.