ALLENTOWN, Pa. — A Lehigh Valley Phantoms employee whose team-assigned job title was “manager of fun” is in Lehigh County Jail on $100,000 bail, charged Friday with possessing videos of children being sexually abused.
Matthew Francis, 29, of Allentown, faces felony counts of sexual abuse of children, possession of child sexual abuse material, and criminal use of a communication facility, District Attorney Gavin P. Holihan and Pennsylvania State Police Capt. Seth J. Kelly, the Troop M commanding officer, said in a news release Friday.
The case involves an employee of the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, which plays at PPL Center in downtown Allentown and markets games and community programming to families.
A detail from three months earlier identified the phone. On Sept. 4, state police received two tips that videos of child sexual abuse had been uploaded, the release said. They came from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, which collects such reports from technology companies.
Investigators traced the internet address to an apartment in the unit block of North Seventh Street. They also traced the uploading phone number to Francis, the same number the release said he gave Allentown police in June when he filed a report about a dispute with a neighbor at that apartment.
Investigators said the files depicted the sexual abuse of children, including young children.
Allentown police and state troopers searched the apartment Friday and found at least two more such videos on Francis’ cellphone, the release said. Police took him into custody during the search and arraigned him the same day. His preliminary hearing is set for 9:45 a.m. Sept. 18 before Magisterial District Judge Karen Devine.
The “manager of fun” title came from the Phantoms themselves. A team-branded welcome graphic names Francis and lists his position as “Manager of Fun,” his hometown as Joppa, Md., and his college as Monmouth University.
An archived Nov. 15, 2025 LinkedIn post by Francis includes that graphic and says he was starting a new position as Manager of Fun at the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. The original LinkedIn post is no longer available.
Francis’ LinkedIn profile, still visible Saturday, Sept. 12, lists his work with the Phantoms as “Mascot Coordinator & Community Relations.” His profile’s “About” section says he is a professional mascot performer with more than 10 years of experience and says he enjoys connecting with fans and entertaining people of all ages.
Those details provide a clearer picture of Francis’ apparent duties than the “manager of fun” title alone and tie his work to mascot performance and community relations.
Francis does not appear on the Phantoms’ published front-office staff page.
A Phantoms mascot-performer job posting published last month says the role represents the club “at games, appearances, and community events both in and out of costume” and manages “appearance requests and school program.” It asks for two to four years of mascot experience and does not publicly list a background-check requirement.
The posting does not establish that Francis had the same duties as the role currently advertised. His LinkedIn profile, however, independently identifies his work as mascot coordination and community relations.
Pennsylvania law requires paid employees who have direct contact with children, including regular contact that is a normal part of the job, to obtain a state child abuse history clearance, a State Police criminal-record check, and an FBI fingerprint-based background check before beginning covered work.
The district attorney’s release and the team’s publicly available materials do not address whether the Phantoms considered Francis’ position subject to those requirements, what clearances he underwent, or what contact he had with children through his job.
A Phantoms representative told WFMZ-TV that Francis has been suspended pending the investigation, that the team takes the allegations seriously and that the alleged conduct does not represent the organization.
Francis is accused, not convicted. His Sept. 18 preliminary hearing will determine whether prosecutors have presented sufficient evidence for the charges to proceed in court.