AN 18-year-old high school student is accused of posing as a girl on Facebook, tricking at least 31 male classmates into sending him naked photos of themselves and then blackmailing some for sex acts.

NEW BERLIN, Wis. — There were just a few hours left before the Eisenhower High School Lions were to take on their rivals last weekend, and the New Berlin schools superintendent had a case of the jitters having little to do with basketball.


Darren Hauck for The New York Times

Anthony R. Stancl, above, is accused of sexually assaulting some of 31 male classmates whom he duped, officials say, into sending him nude photos online.

The superintendent of schools, Paul Kreutzer, is among those left stunned.


The New York Times
“There could be taunting,” said the superintendent, Paul Kreutzer, giving voice to his worry in the slow cadence of a chant: “Faaace-book.”

The quiet world of this town on Milwaukee’s western suburban fringe was upended last Wednesday when the Waukesha County district attorney announced a dozen felony charges, including sexual assault on children and possession of child pornography, against a recently expelled Eisenhower student.

The accused youth, Anthony R. Stancl, is charged with setting up fake profiles on Facebook, the popular social networking site, to dupe 31 male classmates, some as young as 15, into sending him nude photographs of themselves over the last several months.

Mr. Stancl, 18, led his Facebook friends to think they were sending the photos to a flirtatious young girl who would reciprocate by sending them naked pictures of herself, said the district attorney, Brad Schimel.

But, the authorities said, Mr. Stancl did not stop there. In addition, they said, he threatened to release the photos to the victims’ friends or even all of Eisenhower’s 850 students if the youths who had sent them to him did not agree to perform sexual acts he demanded. The tactic was successful, officials said. Mr. Stancl is accused of using it to sexually assault seven boys.

Students and school officials describe Mr. Stancl as a high achiever who was particularly alive in political science classes. He had an attention-loving side, they said, and while not the most popular boy at Eisenhower, he was not a loner.

Until last fall, he had had no brushes with the police or disciplinary problems at school. But he came to the attention of the authorities when, officials say, he e-mailed a bomb threat to Eisenhower in early November, an act that led to his expulsion that month. Investigators’ resulting search of his computer yielded the nude photos, according to court documents.

The criminal complaint announced last week by the district attorney says Mr. Stancl acknowledged the e-mailed threat in a statement to the police. The wording of the complaint suggests that he bore no deep-seated grudge against the school but simply engaged in what he regarded as a fun-filled prank. In any event, the threat is now among the felony charges against him.

Mr. Stancl has not yet entered a plea to any of the charges, and his lawyer, Craig M. Kuhary, had no comment. A preliminary hearing is set for Feb 26.

Although he is accused of deceiving 31 classmates, officials suspect that the number of Mr. Stancl’s victims may be higher. On his computer, investigators say, they found 39 electronic folders, each bearing the name of a single student at Eisenhower. Each folder contained nude photos. In all, there were about 300 nude pictures, in addition to numerous video clips of boys from the school exposing their genitals.

“I don’t know where it ends,” said Mr. Kreutzer, the schools superintendent.

The case has left New Berlin aghast. The town, with a population of 38,000, is the kind of old-fashioned place where, as more than one resident said, “everybody knows each other.” People pack the high school gym on weekends to watch the home team. They did so again last Friday night — the Lions lost — and, to Mr. Kreutzer’s relief, there were none of the “Face-book, Face-book” taunts he had feared from rival fans.

Some residents declined to discuss the charges. But Susan Selvick, mother of twin seniors at Eisenhower, pointed to the naïveté that can accompany New Berlin’s kind of comfort.

“It was beyond what the kids could imagine, you know?” Ms. Selvick said. “They see a lot of things, they go to the theater and everything else, but this is so shocking.”

“Our student body,” said Michael Fesenmaier, the principal, “is very trusting. The reason this hurts people so much is because they are so trusting.”

Ms. Selvick said that she knew Mr. Stancl and that she remembered sitting with his mother in the stands at sports practices. “We also know his family,” she said, “a very nice family” that lives on a quiet street in a house with a triple garage and a basketball hoop in the driveway.

Inside Eisenhower High, opened in 1969 and known for its championship sports teams and above-average test scores, the response to the case has been subdued.

“If it is talked about, it’s very briefly,” said Greg Heimerl, 17. “It’s ‘have you heard the story?’ Yes or no, and it ends there.”

School officials say that because of the sexual nature of the crimes attributed to Mr. Stancl, the authorities have not told them the victims’ identities. But somewhere among their students, they know, are at least 31 of what one administrator calls the “walking wounded,” who are being counseled privately.

“These guys are coming back to school every day,” Mr. Kreutzer said. “They are some strong people.”

Even before New Berlin’s encounter with trauma, the use of social networking sites was banned on campus, and the school gives classes in the safe use of the Internet.

Still, “we’re trying to analyze ourselves,” Mr. Kreutzer said. “What did we do? Was there anything we could have changed?”

“A lot of people have asked me how this could happen,” he said.

He had no answer.

If they had been grown, I wouldn't have no problem with it.

Facebook huh? Hmmmmm.....I may have to find some slut's picture and set me up an account and get some of these dumb ass horny grown men.

Cellphones.

Facebook.

Lawd, what kind of grades are kids making in school? These bastards have dicks, iPods, phones, and keyboards in their hands, when they should be holding Calculus books and shit.

Imago said:

says Mr. Morals himself...

RenHoek said:

Isn't this just what kids call "dating" these days?

Imago said:

Oh wow

connorhawke said:

Your sig

Imago said:

This is an old story.

I hoped that pig got locked up. Dirty fucktard.

Um.... I can't believe not one of those boys that were being blackmailed even attempted to beat this fool down.

Kids are so silly.

Imago said:

He cracked me up with that quote

Kids got too much damn time on their hands these days.

Alej said:

You took that shit right outta my mouth! GENIUS!!!

vainandy said:

And I don't really get it... I would much rather my school mates see me naked
rather than give some dude a blow job or some ass... I would have been like show the pics mofo

banks said:

Exactly! They should have been like "Hang it in the girl's lockeroom..." Sounds like this dude picked his targets well. No way in hell would I rather give a dude a BJ than have a picture of me naked circling around... Probably would have copped some female attention for that, if you handled it right.
[Edited 12/26/09 3:40am]

sounds 2 me like the kids who did the things with him wanted 2 cuz cant nobody make u do shit these days cuz they got a pic i had 2 take my son cellphone cuz he was takin naked pics and he only 13 shit hurt my heart 2 find out im thinkin im sending him 2 school 2 learn not 2 b a porn star