Police: Singing Boys Founder Had Two Suitcases With 1,101 Child Porn Images Inside

K. Bernard Schade, the founder of the Singing Boys of Pennsylvania choir facing rape charges, had more than 1,100 pictures of child pornography stashed in two suitcases at his home and asked a neighbor to hide them knowing police would come looking for them, according to court records.

Schade, 74, was awaiting a hearing on charges he allegedly raped a boy in 1996 and called his neighbor from Monroe County Correctional Facility, asking her to remove the two locked suitcases from his Middle Smithfield Township home and keep them in a safe place, according to court records.

Schade told the neighbor “he did not want people coming into his house and searching through his personal things,” according to court documents.

Police intercepted the recorded prison call and served a search warrant at Schade’s home on April 1, but did not find the suitcases. Police called the neighbor Shari Revilla and told her they were looking for the suitcases, and she said she had them at her home, according to court records.

Police went to Revilla’s home and she turned over the suitcases, police said. Inside, police found 1,101 pictures of children under the age of 18 engaged in prohibited sexual acts or in the simulation of sexual acts. He was charged Monday with a count each of criminal solicitation and tampering with or fabricating physical evidence and 1,101 counts of sexual abuse of children for possessing child pornography.

State police charged Schade on March 14 with rape, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse of a person under 16 years old, aggravated indecent assault and statutory sexual assault for allegedly raping a boy in 1996. On April 2, District Judge Brian Germano ruled Schade must face trial on those charges.

According to a criminal complaint:

The victim told police he joined the Singing Boys choir when he was 11 years old and remembers Schade being abusive when choir members made mistakes, sometimes screaming or throwing objects. He said he was afraid of what Schade might do as punishment.

The victim said when he was 15 years old, he went to a dance performance with Schade. Once the performance was over, Schade told the boy he was too tired to drive him home and he would have to spend the night at his home.

As Schade drove home, he put his hand on the boy’s crotch and told him, “do you remember this,” the victim reported to police. The boy told Schade to take him home, but Schade again repeated that he was too tired to drive that far.

Once they got to Schade’s home, Schade told the boy he would have to sleep in his bed. The victim said Schade made him sleep with his clothes off, and he tried to minimize the abuse by saying it was normal for guys to interact sexually.

The victim said Schade raped him that night and the next day made him shower with the shower curtains open so he could watch.

Last month, another former choir member called Schade and recorded the conversation. During the call, the choir member told Schade that he still gets mail about the Singing Boys of Pennsylvania. The choir member asked Schade why he hurt him, and Schade responded, “I regret that.”

The former choir member said he spoke to another choir member who said he was abused — the man who reported the rape to police — and Schade repeated, “I regret that.”

The Singing Boys choir, originally known as the Pocono Boy Singers, has had thousands of members over the decades, performing throughout the United States and in several other nations. Schade founded the choir of boys from Monroe and Northampton counties in 1970.

manuel.gamiz@mcall.com | 610-820-6595