An Allentown man who worked as the “manager of fun” for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms was arrested Friday for allegedly possessing child pornography.
Matthew Francis, 29, is charged with felony counts of sexual abuse of children/possession of child sexual abuse material, and criminal use of a communication facility.
The investigation began earlier this month when Pennsylvania State Police received two tips from the National Center for Exploited Children that videos depicting child sexual abuse material had been traced to an IP address that was connected to Francis’ North Seventh Street apartment, according to police. A cellphone number used to upload the files matched Francis,’ investigators said.
The videos depicted children as young as 5 years old being sexually abused, investigators said.
Francis’ apartment was searched Friday by Allentown police and state police, who found at least two additional videos depicting child sex abuse material on his cellphone, authorities said. Francis was taken into custody at the time of the search, according to a statement from the Lehigh County District Attorney’s Office.
During an interview at his apartment, Francis admitted to possessing the images and said he stored them in a secured folder on his cell phone, according to court records.
Francis was previously listed on the Phantoms’ website as their “manager of fun,” though all mentions of him were removed Friday afternoon. On his LinkedIn page, Francis wrote that he joined the organization in November 2025, after serving as mascot coordinator for the Sacramento River Cats, a minor league baseball team. On his LinkedIn page, he describes himself a professional mascot performer with previous stints working for a summer collegiate baseball team and a junior ice hockey team, both in Maryland.
Courtney Zubey, director of integrated marketing and community for the Phantoms, said Francis has been suspended from the organization pending the outcome of the investigation.
“We were made aware of the matter and are cooperating with authorities and police,” Zubey said.
When asked if any of the crimes occurred in connection with Francis’ employment, Holihan replied: “The information we have at this time only indicates that he possessed child sex abuse material and uploaded it on two different occasions. We have no information at this point that he had any inappropriate physical contact with children.”
Francis was arraigned Friday and sent to Lehigh County Jail under $100,000 bail. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for Sept. 18.