A former Philadelphia high school teacher received a 30-year prison sentence for his role in a child exploitation scheme that victimized young girls, including one of his students. According to a statement from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, Jeremy Schobel, who taught at Harriton High School and the High School of Creative and Performing Arts, constructed fake online personas to obtain sexually explicit material from minors illicitly, an offense he sometimes conducted within the very walls of the educational institutions where he was employed.

U.S. Attorney Jacqueline C. Romero highlighted the betrayal inherent in Schobel's actions. In the statement obtained by the Justice Department, she stated, "As a teacher, Jeremy Schobel was tasked with developing young minds,” said U.S. Attorney Romero. “As a predator, though, he chose to deceive and sexually exploit underage girls online — often from his school classroom." The conviction forces Schobel to register as a sex offender according to Pennsylvania's Megan’s Law.

FBI Special Agent in Charge of FBI Philadelphia, Wayne A. Jacobs, commented on the gravity of Schobel's crimes, noting the profound violation of trust. “Mr. Schobel abused his position of public trust to prey on those we expected him to protect,” Jacobs said, per the Justice Department's press release. The lengthy sentence meted out by United States District Court Judge John F. Murphy addresses not only Schobel’s tenure of abuse but also serves as a potent deterrent and reminder of the serious consequences faced by those who engage in such criminal acts.