In tears, two students, along with their mothers, told a Bucks County judge on Monday how the actions of their former Palisades High School teacher left them devastated, distrustful and afraid to go back to school.

Francis James Reppert Jr., who once taught math and coached tennis at the school, was caught in late 2019 secretly taking photographs looking up the skirts of female students and sharing the photos online. He pleaded guilty to indecent exposure and invasion of privacy on Oct. 6.

One of the students told Common Pleas Judge Raymond F. McHugh that she was so disgusted by Reppert that she can never wear the same outfit she was wearing when Reppert secretly took an “upskirt” photo of her.

Sobbing, she told the judge, “I live with the fact that photos of me can still be floating around the Internet or on someone’s phone.”

After hearing from the victims, McHugh sentenced Reppert, 27, of Quakertown, to one year less one day to two years less one day at the Bucks County Correctional Facility followed by two years of probation.

Reppert was also ordered to pay $2,447.68 toward the Victims Compensation Assistance Program to cover the costs of therapy for the victims. As part of his plea, Reppert will be required to register through Megan’s Law for at least 15 years.

The sentence was on the higher end of the aggravated sentence range, which Deputy District Attorney Matthew S. Lannetti argued for because of the damage inflicted on the victims and Reppert’s position of authority. Reppert had been requesting only probation.

“When we send our kids to school, we are supposed to know they are safe,” Lannetti said. “Other than being home with their families, there is no safer place to be.”

Since Reppert’s arrest, local lawmakers have proposed legislation that would lead to stricter penalties on “upskirting” cases, particularly when the victims are minors and the defendant is a teacher, Lannetti said.

The bipartisan bill, House Bill 2453, was introduced last spring and would make an upskirting offense a third-degree felony for a first violation and a second-degree felony for additional offenses. Currently, offenders can only face a misdemeanor charge.  

"While Mr. Reppert’s conduct was taken seriously by the court in its sentencing, the court was limited by the constraints of the law as written," District Attorney Matt Weintraub said. "We are currently working with our legislators to increase the grading and therefore possible penalties in any instance in which a teacher “upskirts” a child."

On Monday, one of the victims told Judge McHugh she would be happy to see stricter punishments for people like Reppert. 

“I’m hopeful it will become a crime in Pennsylvania as it is in other states,” she said.

Reppert was charged last January following an investigation that began in October 2019 after a student captured a video of Reppert viewing, and zooming in on, a photo of what appeared to be a student’s legs.

The troopers confronted Reppert and he admitted he took photos of the victim and intended to masturbate to them, Deputy District Attorney Matthew S. Lannetti said in court Tuesday.

State police found additional images on Reppert’s personal iPhone and a school-issued iPad.

The photos, taken from underneath Reppert’s desk depicted three female students. Investigators also recovered photos of Reppert exposing his penis inside Palisades High School.

Reppert was fired by the Palisades School District in late 2019. He had been employed by the school district since August 2016.

The case was investigated by Pennsylvania State Police and prosecuted by Deputy District Attorney Matthew S. Lannetti.

Media Contact: Manuel Gamiz Jr., 215.348.6298, mgamiz@buckscounty.org