Twin Cities teacher lured to park by online vigilante jailed on child porn charges

A Minneapolis substitute school teacher went to a city park seeking to exchange child pornography only to be snared by a self-described predator vigilante who records his catches on video and shares them on social media, according to charges filed Friday.

Preston Casey Palmer, 34, was charged in Hennepin County District Court with 14 felony counts involving solicitation, possession and distribution of child pornography.

Palmer, of Minneapolis, was arrested Wednesday at Brackett Field Park, close to the school where he worked, and remains jailed in lieu of $250,000 bail ahead of a court appearance Monday. Court records do not list an attorney for him.

Since he was hired on Nov. 25, Palmer has worked at Southwest High School, Ella Baker (pre-K through eighth grade), the Anishinabe Academy and Waite Park elementary schools, and most recently Sullivan STEAM School.

Sullivan, with grades pre-K through eighth, is located in the Longfellow neighborhood in the 2700 block of 39th Avenue S., near the park where Palmer was arrested about 3:30 p.m.

While Palmer was being apprehended, a child in the park said, “‘That’s my teacher,’” the criminal complaint quoted the student as saying.

Less than two hours before the charges were filed, the school sistrict said Friday in response to a data request from the Minnesota Star Tribune that Palmer remained employed and is not assigned to any school. Soon after the charges were filed, Palmer was fired, the district said.

Following the charges, the district released a statement about Palmer that read, “The safety of our students is our top priority. 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."

Palmer was arrested after he was lured to the park by Alex Rosen, who leads Predator Poachers, whose members purposely lure alleged pedophiles across the country, then post videos of suspects being apprehended by police. Rosen’s X account has more than 468,000 followers.

According to the charges, police were sent to the park and spoke with several people with Predator Poachers. They told police that Palmer had been communicating since March with a 17-year-old posing as a 13-year-old boy.

After sending sexually explicit images and videos, the charges say, Palmer agreed to a meeting in the park with the boy and another member of the vigilante group posting as the boy’s father.

A cellphone with that exchange contained more than 1,000 files, the charges said. A preliminary review of 40 files turned up numerous images of child sexual abuse involving victims as young as 5 years old.

The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board said its investigators are asking for anyone with information about this case to call the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension predatory crimes tip line at 651-793-2465.