Centre County preschool teacher accused of sharing sexually explicit photos of students
A former preschool teacher at a day care in the Bellefonte area was charged Tuesday with photographing and sharing sexually explicit images of her students with a person she met on social media.
Shannon M. Ishler, 44, of Bellefonte, was charged with felony counts of sexual abuse of children, unlawful contact with a minor and criminal use of a communication facility. She’s also facing a misdemeanor count of producing obscene materials.
She was the head preschool teacher at Kid’s Court Child Care and Learning Center’s location in Benner Township. Officials at the day care said in a statement Ishler was fired and separated from the premises as soon as state police said an employee was a suspect.
“We immediately reported this matter to the Pennsylvania State Police, ChildLine, and the Department of Human Services. Due to this being an ongoing investigation, we were directly instructed by the PSP not to disclose certain details to our families and the public so as not to interfere with the integrity of their investigation,” the day care’s administration said in a statement.
“... In light of the fact that this continues to be an ongoing police investigation, we cannot comment further, but will fully cooperate with all authorities moving forward.”
A redacted affidavit of probable cause filed by state police at Hollidaysburg, and a search warrant, show Kid’s Court received threatening phone calls and messages through its Facebook page in March 2024.
One message threatened to “kill some kids” if the day care didn’t cooperate; another read, “We can attack your school and kill all.” A trooper wrote that the day care also received photos showing three young children with their genitals exposed.
According to the search warrant filed by state police at Rockview, staff identified furniture in the background of the images that matched items in a restricted area of the facility accessible only to employees.
During an interview, Ishler told troopers she had been communicating with a person on the instant messaging service WhatsApp. She described the person as a friend from Texas, but the account’s phone number was from Nigeria, police wrote.
Coworkers told troopers Ishler came into work one day visibly upset, saying she sent a sexually explicit photo of herself to an unknown person who was demanding money.
If Ishler didn’t pay, police wrote, the person threatened to send the image to her family and post it on the internet. Ishler blocked the person, but police said they continued to communicate with her through another social media application.
Staff are required to leave their cellphones in the office while they’re working, but police said they were told Ishler “doesn’t abide by this rule.”
A forensic analysis of her cellphone revealed 21 images that police said depicted the sexual abuse of children younger than 10. The extraction also showed evidence of Ishler “being exploited on WhatsApp,” police wrote.
In a WhatsApp message, Ishler also wrote, “I am going to sell naked pics,” police wrote, though they said it was unknown if she was talking about herself or children.
No defense lawyer was listed. A phone number listed for Ishler did not accept a phone call and the Centre County Public Defender Office said it is not representing her as of Tuesday.
District Judge Kelley Gillette-Walker set bail at $15,000. Ishler is incarcerated at the Centre County Correctional Facility. Her preliminary hearing is set for Sept. 17.