Minneapolis substitute teacher charged after being caught with child sexual abuse material
Preston Palmer (Hennepin County Sheriff's Office)
A Minneapolis substitute teacher is facing more than a dozen felony charges after he was arrested earlier this week with thousands of files of child sexual abuse material on a thumb drive.
A criminal complaint details how a citizen sting operation resulted in the arrest of 34-year-old Preston Casey Palmer on Wednesday.
Minneapolis Park Police responded to Brackett Field Park on the 2700 block of 39th Avenue South after receiving a report from a vigilante group aimed at exposing child predators that Palmer had plans to distribute child sexual abuse material to another person.
Charging documents allege Palmer had sent “overtly sexual” messages to a 17-year-old posing as a 13-year-old boy in which Palmer “bragged that he has 87 gigabytes of child sexual abuse materials” on what he called his “pedophone.”
Some of the conversation involved Palmer sending nude images to the child and talking about “really cute boys in 3rd grade” whom he “pictured naked when I was teaching.”
Alex Rosen with “Predator Poachers,” the group that organized the sting, told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS he “took over” communications with Palmer after receiving a credible tip and posed as the 13-year-old’s father. He added he gained rapport with Palmer through five different phone calls before agreeing to meet up after Palmer offered to share child sex abuse material with him. During that meeting, members of the citizen group reported Palmer to the police.
When officers arrived, the person Palmer met up with said Palmer had illicit images on a flash drive and on his phone that needed to be deleted. During the arrest, Palmer said he was “an addict” and said he would end up with a felony charge and be placed on a registry.
According to the complaint, a child exclaimed, “That’s my teacher,” during the arrest.
Officers found 18,466 media files organized into more than 1,000 folders on Palmer’s phone. Forty randomly selected files were found to contain images and video of child sexual abuse.
Palmer was hired by Minneapolis Public Schools in November, and he was working at Sullivan STEAM School at the time of his arrest. Palmer was previously employed by the district but didn’t have an assignment at the time of his arrest. School district officials told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS that he is no longer employed there as of Friday.
“The safety of our students is our top priority,” an MPS spokesperson said in a statement. “Due to data privacy laws, MPS is unable to share any information at this time. We want to remind our students and community if they see or experience anything concerning to report it to a trusted adult or through our HelpMe App or website.”
After the arrest, Minneapolis Park Police conducted a search warrant at Palmer’s house and found more evidence of child sexual abuse material. The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force is now involved in the investigation.
Court records show Palmer faces 14 total felony charges, including counts relating to possessing and disseminating child sexual abuse material and sending sexually explicit messages to a child.
He is being held at the Hennepin County Jail on $250,000 bail. His first court appearance is scheduled for Monday.
Anyone with information on Palmer’s activities is asked to contact the BCA Predatory Crimes Tipline at 651-793-2465.