PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A former custodian in the Upper Perkiomen School District is charged with possession of child sexual abuse materials, after he was spotted taking photos during a youth sports event.
According to court documents, a state trooper was called to Upper Perkiomen High School on December 7th last year by someone who said the school’s custodian was taking photos of a girl during a wrestling competition.
Investigators said John Soffa, 64, of Pennsburg, Pennsylvania, agreed to show the trooper the photos he had taken, but as he scrolled through photos on his phone, the trooper saw what he believed to be nude and partially nude photos of children on Soffa’s phone.
The phone was seized, and the complaint says more than 2,000 items on the phone were flagged as possible child exploitive material of children between the ages of 3 and 16 years old, some, the complaint said, of toddlers posing in bikinis, and others of children that were explicit.
There were also what are described in the complaint non-pornographic photos of students, including cheerleaders.
Upper Perkiomen School District said Soffa was placed on leave immediately after the December incident and then fired, adding that the safety of all students remains their highest priority.
He’s free on $50,000 unsecured with a preliminary hearing scheduled for later this month.