Another North Penn elementary school teacher is accused of sexually abusing children, this time it’s three boys starting in 2019 after meeting them online.
Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele announced Sept. 25 the arrest of Jason Theodore, 54, of Upper Gwynedd, on felony charges including involuntary Deviate Sexual Intercourse, Statutory Sexual Assault, Unlawful Contact with a Minor and related offenses.
Theodore was arraigned Sept. 26 and transferred to Montgomery County Correctional Center after he was denied bail.
Theodore worked as a physical education teacher at Montgomery Elementary School in North Wales, and a wrestling coach for Pennbrook Middle School in Lansdale, and was a youth hockey coach, authorities said.
One of his
alleged victims was a student in Theodore’s class and later on his wrestling team, though the abuse allegedly started when the victim was in high school, authorities said.
The district immediately placed him on administrative leave after the police investigation began earlier this month, the DA’s office said.
Upper Gwynedd Police opened an investigation after a young adult man alleged that Theodore sexually abused him starting when he was 13 in 2019 and continued until he was 16 or 17.
The victim reported meeting Theodore on the social media app Snapchat and he said his name was “John,” according to a probable cause affidavit.
The victim later learned he was a staff member at Montgomery Elementary School in the North Penn District after seeing his school ID.
The first victim told Theodore his age, and he said it would not be an issue and it was not the first teen he met online, the affidavit said. They allegedly exchanged nude photos before meeting in person the first time two weeks later.
The first victim identified two additional possible victims who Theodore also allegedly met online, the affidavit said.
The second victim said he met Theodore in 2022 when he was 16 in an online chatroom.
When they met the first time, the second victim recognized Theodore as his former grade school teacher and wrestling coach. The second victim alleges his relationship with Theodore continued as an adult.
The second victim also alleges he sent sexually explicit videos and images to Theodore. He said that Theodore showed him a cellphone video of him in a sexual encounter with Victim 1, the affidavit said.
The third victim met Theodore in an online chatroom in 2020 when he was 14, the affidavit said. The third victim alleged that his real name, age and location were posted in the chatroom.
Someone named “John” – who authorities allege was Theodore – sent him a message. Like the other victims, the third one sent and received sexually explicit videos and images with Theodore, the affidavit said.
The third victim alleged the two engaged in sexual contact three times in 2020 before the victim cut off contact. The victim said he never learned Theodore’s real name.
In their last sexual encounter, Theodore was allegedly performing a sexual act on him in a parking lot when the victim noticed police nearby. The victim said he told Theodore to stop multiple times, but he held him down, telling the victim, “it’s fine,” the affidavit said.
All three victims alleged that Theodore provided them with marijuana and alcohol and would consume both with them.
When police interviewed Theodore he allegedly admitted to meeting young adult men online and engaging in sex with them, but he denied targeting underage boys.
He also denied giving underage boys marijuana or smoking the drug, but police found evidence of the drug while executing a search warrant at his home, the affidavit said.
Theodore became red-faced after investigators asked him if he knew Victim 1, and denied knowing him, but later said he knew someone with that name when he coached hockey but the boy’s family moved, the affidavit said.
Theodore denied engaging in sex with Victim 1, the affidavit said.
This is the second recent arrest of a North Penn elementary teacher on child sexual abuse charges.
In August, federal authoritiescharged Eric Sanville, 39, a special education teacher at Gwynedd Square Elementary Schoolin Lansdale with manufacturing and attempting to manufacture child pornography.
The Delaware County man allegedly pretended to be a teenage boy online to entice two 8-year-old girls to engage in sexually explicit acts and send him the images.
Sanville previously worked as a long term substitute for the Central Bucks School District in Bucks County from 2013 to 2016.
Anyone who believes they or someone they know may have been victimized by Jason Theodore is encouraged to contact Montgomery County Detectives at 610-278-3368 and ask for Det. Dana Ganard.
This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: North Penn teacher charged with sex assault of minors
