Teacher charged with sex abuse
Stephen Catania, 28, of Souderton, faces charges for lewd messages he sent to students, police allege
A substitute teacher at North Montco Technical Career Center in Towamencin has been arrested for allegedly sexting with at least two students.
Stephen Andrew Catania, 28, of Souderton, faces charges of felony sex abuse for communicating with two 17-year-old females who had been students at North Montco, according to a police criminal complaint against him.
According to police, the first reports were received by police in January from a 17-year-old student who received messages via messaging app Snapchat from a person later identified as Catania.
Catania was a long-term
substitute teacher at North Montco at the time, according to police. The messages started as a conversation about the student needing repairs to her vehicle, before Catania changed the subject.
“I think you’re a really sweet girl with great intentions and a body that will make you hard pressed to find another of equal,” then “You got a nice f——— figure,”
and “Send a pic” and “Your underwear” were among the messages Catania sent the student, police said.
A search warrant was issued in late January for records related to the Snapchat user name, and records were then provided confirming that the conversation took place, police said.
In early March, a second 17-year-old student told her teacher and then police that she had gotten messages from the same Snapchat user name, who she later identified as Catania, police said.
That student told police that she had posted on her personal Snapchat account in the summer of 2018, when the student was 16 years old, and had gotten a private message from Catania’s user name asking for a picture of herself.
Days later, the student
told police, messages from Catania continued, asking for the juvenile’s cellphone number and asking “Who’s the best looking teacher at NMTCC.”
Messages from Catania continued, in which he asked the student if she wanted to see him in a Speedo swimsuit, and if he would send her photos of herself, before Catania told the student in January 2019 to “delete everything” and she did, police said. He then contacted her with a different Snapchat user name in late February or early March 2019, and asked for her cellphone number that the two continued to use to communicate, police said.
Police interviewed Catania in mid-January and asked if he had an active Snapchat account, and Catania told police he had had one but deleted it two days earlier.
Detectives then told Catania of an investigation into inappropriate messages with a student, and Catania named the first female juvenile, then denied any inappropriate communication, but later said he remembered asking for pictures of her, police said.
During a second interview with police in April, Catania acknowledged the second Snapchat account belonged to him, and admitted to deleting students’ phone numbers and conversations around the time of the first interview with police.
According to the criminal complaint, Catania denied communicating with the second victim from his new account, then admitted he did contact the second victim via Snapchat and text message, and called her his “favorite student” and said he thought of her more as a friend than
a student.
According to court records, Catania was arrested and arraigned on April 10 before District Judge Ed Levine of Lansdale.
Charges against Catania include two felony counts each of communicating with a minor for sexual abuse, and of knowing or permitting a sex act with a child via computer, along with two misdemeanor counts each of harassment and corruption of minors.
Catania remains in custody at the Montgomery County Correctional Facility in lieu of posting $10,000 bail, and a preliminary hearing is scheduled for April 30, according to court records.
Catania is not currently listed in North Montco’s staff directory, and school officials have not responded to a request for comment as of press time.