Local freelance sports writer, Penn State adjunct accused of stalking and harassing women
A 57-year-old freelance sports writer — who covered Centre County athletes and served as a part-time Penn State faculty member — is facing charges for stalking and harassing two women, one of whom said the harassment began when she was in high school.
Philip Cmor, of Cambria County, was charged earlier this month by Clearfield Regional Police with two counts of misdemeanor stalking (first-degree) and four counts of misdemeanor harassment (third-degree). His preliminary hearing is set for Wednesday.
Cmor has spent more than 30 years covering sports and communities largely in and around Blair and Centre counties. In 2018, per his LinkedIn, he transitioned to freelance, meaning he became a self-employed journalist who worked for multiple media outlets. (He has not freelanced for the Centre Daily Times, but he published a story Wednesday about State High track and field for another local outlet.)
According to court documents, the charges were set in motion after Cmor was accused of leaving unwanted gifts — two coffees and two cards — for the women at their place of work, at the Clearfield County Probation Department, in April. The women told police that Cmor had been stalking and harassing them for multiple years; they provided at least 38 examples such as text messages and social media posts.
One of the women said the unwanted contact began in 2016 when she was in high school. Cmor was accused of sending unwanted gifts to her and her family, and contacting her via phone, email, social media “and anyway possible.”
The young woman “and multiple friends/family members asked Cmor to (cease) all contact, which he failed to do,” according to the affidavit of probable cause.
According to public documents, the woman reported the unwanted contact to two police departments in 2018, which resulted in no criminal charges. However, University Police at Penn State DuBois investigated and ultimately banned Cmor from attending all home basketball games that the woman played in. (However, the woman told police that didn’t stop Cmor from driving multiple hours to attend road games.)
Despite Cmor’s partial ban at Penn State DuBois, Cmor still taught at Penn State University Park for two semesters. It wasn’t wholly clear if University Park was unaware of the allegations or, because there were no formal charges, chose to hire him in spite of the accusations.
He served as an adjunct lecturer for COMM 260W, an introductory course for news writing and reporting.
“Philip Cmor taught one course in fall 2023 and one course in spring 2024. He is not scheduled to teach in the future,” university spokesman Wyatt DuBois wrote in an email. “The University conducts backgrounds checks prior to hiring faculty and staff and follows the law with respect to what employers can consider in making hiring decisions.”
Cmor was arraigned in Clearfield County on May 13 and was released on $50,000 unsecured bail. He is scheduled to appear before Magisterial District Judge James Glass later this month for his preliminary hearing.
