The district placed Eric Sanville on leave and barred him from school property after federal authorities arrested him at his home.
LANSDALE, PA — A North Penn School District elementary teacher has been charged with manufacture and attempted manufacture of child pornography after federal investigators alleged he used online accounts to persuade young girls to create and send sexually explicit material.
Eric Sanville, 39, of Norwood, Delaware County, was arrested Aug. 27 and charged by criminal complaint in federal court, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Sanville worked at Gwynedd Square Elementary School in the North Penn School District. The district said it immediately placed him on leave, prohibited him from entering district property and directed him to have no contact with students. The charges are allegations, and Sanville is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
Federal prosecutors said the criminal complaint centers on allegations involving two 8-year-old girls. Authorities allege Sanville used a messaging application to persuade the children to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of creating visual depictions. Local reports citing court records identified the platform as Snapchat and said investigators linked two accounts to an internet address associated with Sanville’s home.
Court documents reviewed by local news organizations allege the accounts were used to pose as a minor while communicating with girls online. NBC10 reported that Snapchat began sending reports in July to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children about accounts suspected of targeting minor girls. Those reports ultimately became part of the federal investigation. Investigators later obtained a search warrant for Sanville’s home, according to the court records described by NBC10.
Investigators alleged that Sanville communicated online with about 25 girls who identified themselves as being between 9 and 13 years old, according to reporting by 6abc and other Philadelphia-area news outlets citing the complaint. One of the two children specifically described in the federal investigation lived in Sweden, local reports said. The publicly released Justice Department announcement did not identify the children and described only the allegations involving the two 8-year-old girls.
The North Penn School District said the FBI notified officials of Sanville’s arrest on Aug. 27. District officials said law enforcement had found no evidence, based on information available at the time, that North Penn students or other children in the surrounding area were involved. Authorities also told the district they did not believe North Penn technology was used in connection with the alleged activity. The district said it is cooperating with investigators and will review additional information as it becomes available.
Superintendent Todd Bauer sent a message to Gwynedd Square families identifying Sanville as the teacher who had been taken into federal custody. Bauer said the employee had been removed from his duties and would not be allowed on district property or permitted to contact students. The district also acknowledged that the arrest could be particularly troubling for families whose children had interacted with Sanville, while saying there were limits on what officials could disclose because the federal investigation remains active.
Sanville was arrested at his Norwood home and appeared in federal court later Aug. 27 before U.S. Magistrate Judge Elizabeth L. Toplin, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. He was ordered detained in federal custody pending indictment and trial. Federal prosecutors said the offense carries a maximum possible sentence of 30 years in prison and a mandatory minimum of 15 years if Sanville is convicted.
The case is being investigated by the FBI’s Newtown Square Resident Agency with assistance from the Delaware County District Attorney’s Office Criminal Investigation Division. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kelly Harrell and Angela Monaco are prosecuting the case. Federal authorities brought the prosecution through Project Safe Childhood, a Justice Department initiative focused on child sexual exploitation crimes.
As of Aug. 30, Sanville remained barred from North Penn property and from contact with students, while the district continued cooperating with federal investigators. Prosecutors have described the criminal complaint as an accusation rather than a finding of guilt, and further federal court proceedings are expected as the case moves forward.
Author note: Last updated August 30, 2026.