What did Jeremy Schobel do? Harriton High School teacher arrested over catfishing scheme involving teenage girls

On Thursday, June 8, Harriton High School teacher Jeremy Schobel was arrested for catfishing two teenagers on a social media platform. According to ABC, 31-year-old Schobel posed as a 17-year-old girl in order to gain the confidence of the teens in order to obtain s*xually explicit images and videos on Snapchat. Harriton authorities claimed that Schobel has confessed to having used similar methods for years now.

On the day of the arrest, officials from the Lower Merion School District informed the two teens' parents about the incident. The school district noted that Schobel had no prior criminal record when he was hired as a teacher at Harriton High School. If convicted, he will have to register as an offender, and will no longer be eligible to teach.

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The details of Jeremy Schobel's alleged crimes

As per Fox News, upon his arrest, Jeremy Schobel reportedly admitted that he had habitually spoken to multiple teenage girls over a period of years. The case which led to his arrest, however, concerned fake accounts he had maintained to talk to the two recent victims since November 2022. The teen girls targeted in the latest case were between 16 and 18.

The Inquirer noted that Jeremy Schobel posed as a 17-year-old to gain the trust of the two girls on the app Yubo. After establishing contact, he would supposedly redirect them to snapchat. After interacting with the minors, he would gain their confidence and request illicit content.

Authorities began investigating the possibility of a predator, and discovered that the suspect had been using two usernames to communicate with the girls. One was "jillmoreno", while the other was "sophiavan423.

Both accounts were linked to the phone number of Jeremy Schobel. School officials also noted that Schobel may have been interacting with the minors during work hours, as one of the IP address's mentioned by police matches that of the school.

In an official statement, the Lower Merion School District noted that they were not aware if Schobel had any inappropriate contact with students at Harriton High School. The statement read:

"Mr. Schobel joined the Lower Merion School District prior to the start of the 2021-2022 school year. He had no prior record that would have precluded his hiring."

The statement continued:

While we understand that this is an ongoing investigation, at this time, LMSD is not aware of any inappropriate interactions between Mr. Schobel and LMSD students. Additionally, the District had not received any complaints or concerns from students or staff regarding his conduct in school."

Meanwhile, Schobel has been suspended from teaching for the course of the investigation. The incident has shocked the school, and the administration has announced that counselling and resources are available for children.