BishopAccountability.org
	Home Search May Lead to More Charges against Coach at Pottsville School DVD Burner Recovered; Man Suspected of Taping Students.by Chris Parker By Chris Parker chris.parker@mcall.com Morning Call [Allentown PA] September 6, 2005 New charges may be pending against a Pottsville track and field coach accused of secretly videotaping half-clad teenage girls in a high school gym. A search of Daniel M. Shields' home last week recovered a DVD burner "which may allow us to view a DVD that we recovered in the first search, so there may be more charges filed," said Schuylkill County District Attorney Frank R. Cori. Any new charges would be consolidated with the current charges against Shields, 61, of 30 Bryn Mawr Ave., Cori said. Shields, a longtime track coach at Nativity BVM High School, allegedly videotaped three female students, two 17-year-olds and an 18-year-old, in April and May. Shields had been reported to police in February by school officials for allegedly touching a female student inappropriately. Police determined the alleged touch was not a criminal matter, Allentown Diocese spokesman Matt Kerr has said. The videotaping surfaced in August when parents of the girls complained to authorities. The videotape had been taken from Shields' home in June by two recent Nativity graduates. Cori would not say how they got into Shields' home, but said there were no plans as of now to charge them. The two graduates watched the tape twice, "then apparently the word got out," Cori said earlier. The girls' parents heard about it, called one of the boys who had it, and he and his mother brought the tape to police. The tape was labeled. Several people identified the handwriting as Shields', according to the affidavit. An earlier search of Shields' house resulted in the confiscation of two 8mm tapes, a camcorder, Shields' driver's license, seven unmarked VHS tapes, a copy of a men's magazine, a computer and an 8mm camera, among other items. Police also searched his school office and storage space, according to a search warrant issued Aug. 18, seizing a cardboard box with a hole cut in one side. According to an affidavit of probable cause, Shields, a boys track coach for 35 years and a girls track coach for 11 years, taped the girls while they were in a sports training room close to his office. Shields is charged with sexual abuse of children, corruption of minors and invasion of privacy, was arraigned by District Judge James K. Reiley of Pottsville, and released on $50,000 bail. 610-379-3224