Former Minneapolis substitute teacher sentenced to 10 years after being caught with child sex abuse material

A former substitute teacher for Minneapolis Public Schools has been sentenced to 10 years in prison in connection with a child sex abuse material case.

Preston Casey Palmer, 35, was convicted on one count of trying to solicit a child and five counts of possessing child pornography. He pleaded guilty to the charges on Wednesday and was sentenced the same day.

Conditional release has been set after five years, and he must register as a predatory offender. Palmer was given credit for 204 days already served.

As previously reported, Palmer was arrested after a citizen sting operation. A citizen group aimed at exposing child predators called the police, stating that Palmer had plans to distribute child sex abuse material to another person.

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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.”

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 videos of child sex abuse.

Though he was working at Sullivan STEAM School at the time of his arrest, district officials say he didn’t have an assignment. Shortly after his arrest, district officials confirmed that he no longer worked there.
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