A Montgomery County elementary school teacher sexually assaulted three teens, including a former student, DA says
Montgomery County prosecutors say Jason Theodore befriended the three victims online, plied with them with marijuana and alcohol, and then sexually assaulted them.
A Montgomery County elementary school teacher and wrestling coach sexually assaulted three boys he encountered online, including one of his former students, prosecutors said Saturday.
Jason Theodore, 54, began the assaults in 2019, plying the boys with marijuana and alcohol before forcing them to perform sex acts on him, according to the affidavit of probable cause for his arrest.
He told one of the victims, then 14, “I love how tiny you are,” police said.
Theodore, of Upper Gwynedd, has been charged with involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, statutory sexual assault, unlawful contact with a minor, and related crimes.
He remained in custody, denied bail. There was no indication he had hired an attorney.
For years, Theodore worked as a physical education teacher at Montgomery Township Elementary and a wrestling coach at Pennbrook Middle School, both in the North Penn School District, according to prosecutors.
In a statement, North Penn School District Superintendent Todd M. Bauer said that Theodore was placed on administrative leave after district officials were notified by Upper Gwynedd police about their investigation into his alleged behavior.
North Penn is cooperating with police, and Bauer said counselors are available to students.
The investigation into Theodore began Sept. 9, when one of the victims filed a police report saying Theodore had sexually assaulted him starting in 2019, when he was 13 years old, the affidavit said.
The boy was 17 when they last had contact in 2022. He told police that he befriended Theodore through Snapchat, and that Theodore had used a pseudonym and lied about his age, portraying himself to be much younger.
From 2019 to 2022, Theodore repeatedly sexually assaulted him, sometimes recording the encounters. On one occasion, Theodore pressured him into having sexual contact with another teen, the affidavit said.
That second teen later told police he met Theodore in a chat room in 2020 when he was 16 and later began messaging him on Snapchat. When the two finally met up, the teen recognized Theodore immediately as his former teacher and wrestling coach, and realized Theodore had sought him out after seeing him in the chat room.
Like the first teen, the second teen said Theodore sexually assaulted him, and in his case continued to do so after he became an adult. He told police he “felt coerced and groomed by Theodore, resulting in long lasting embarrassment and shame about the physicality between him and Theodore,” the affidavit said.
The third victim said he met Theodore when he was 14, in 2020, and that Theodore sexually assaulted him on three occasions, usually in Theodore’s vehicle.
In an interview with police, Theodore admitted that he was attracted to “younger males,” but denied being involved with anyone underage, the affidavit said.
When an officer mentioned the first victim’s name, Theodore became flushed and hid his face, but said he didn’t know the person the officer was referring to, the affidavit said.
Theodore is scheduled to appear before a district judge for a preliminary hearing on Thursday.
