Elementary School Teacher Arrested on Child Pornography Charge

PHILADELPHIA - United States Attorney David Metcalf announced that Eric Sanville, 39, of Norwood, Pennsylvania, was arrested today and charged by criminal complaint with manufacture and attempted manufacture of child pornography. Sanville is an elementary school teacher in the North Penn School District.

The defendant made his initial appearance in federal court this afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Elizabeth L. Toplin and will be detained in federal custody pending indictment and trial.

The criminal complaint alleges that Sanville used a messaging app to entice two minors, both eight-year-old girls, to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing visual depictions of those acts.

If convicted, the defendant faces a maximum possible sentence of 30 years in prison, with a mandatory minimum term of 15 years' imprisonment.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit projectsafechildhood.govLinks to other government and non-government sites will typically appear with the "external link" icon to indicate that you are leaving the Department of Justice website when you click the link..

The case was investigated by FBI Philadelphia's Newtown Square Resident Agency, with assistance from the Delaware County District Attorney's Office Criminal Investigation Division, and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Kelly Harrell and Angela Monaco.

The charges and allegations contained in the criminal complaint are merely accusations. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty in court.