(Stillwater, Okla.) – Former Yale High School math teacher and coach Joseph Kolt Palmer, 27, was arraigned today on a felony charge accusing him of sexting a 17-year-old female Yale High School student between March 3 and April 9.
In a brief appearance before Special District Judge Katherine Thomas this afternoon, Palmer did not say anything. His attorney, Cheryl Ramsey of Stillwater, waived the reading of the charge and asked that his case be set on the Nov. 7 preliminary hearing docket.
Ramsey noted that Palmer posted $10,000 bail after he was arrested on the Payne County charge in Texas, where he reportedly had been teaching. Asked by KUSH after court recessed if Ramsey wished to comment, she said that she did not.
Palmer was arrested at about 3 p.m. on Sept. 20 by sheriff’s deputies in Kaufman County, Texas, according to an OSBI news release.
Payne County District Attorney Laura Austin Thomas noted in an email to KUSH today, “This is a very serious charge. We don’t want this defendant to ever be able to teach again, and that is our primary goal.
“The (Yale) school itself handled the matter promptly and well from this end. The criminal side took more time and we needed cell phone records.
“I think anyone who reads them will have a clear picture of what was occurring with this victim. It’s entirely possible there are other victims.”
The case was investigated by Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation agent Richard Brown on the request of Yale Police Chief Phillip Kelly for assistance on May 2, according to Brown’s affidavit.
When Palmer was interviewed by the OSBI agent on May 6, he said that he had received his teaching degree from the University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond in May 2015, the affidavit said.
Three months later, Palmer was hired as a fulltime math teacher and coach for Yale High School, the affidavit said. Palmer was the assistant coach for the boys’ football team and the boys’ and girls’ basketball teams, the affidavit said.
“Palmer was married and had one child with another one on the way,” the affidavit said.
While teaching at Yale High School, Palmer met a 17-year-old Yale High School junior, the affidavit said.
The student provided Palmer with her cell phone number and the two “would talk with each other via cell phone calls and text messaging during school hours and after school hours,” the affidavit alleged.
On May 23, the OSBI agent re-interviewed Palmer at his home, which was then located in Crescent, according to court documents.
The OSBI agent showed Palmer 14 pages of text messages that were extracted from a consensual search of the student’s cell phone, the affidavit alleged.
On March 3 shortly before 5:30 a.m., the student texted Palmer, “and I realize that us having sex did not change it,” the affidavit alleged.
During a 25-minute period from 5:09 to 5:24 on April 9, Palmer and the student exchanged text messages, the affidavit alleged.
When Palmer asked, “so what you think about tonight?” the student replied “It was more amazing than the last time,” the affidavit alleged.
Palmer asked “was that your first time,” and the student replied, “yeah,” the affidavit alleged.
Palmer admitted to the OSBI agent that he used his iphone 6 to send inappropriate text messages to the student about touching her in sexual ways and about having sexual intercourse with her, the affidavit alleged.
“Palmer felt he violated his responsibilities as a teacher by allowing himself to have a relationship and sending inappropriate text messages,” with the Yale student, the affidavit alleged.
“Palmer felt he should have never allowed the relationship to have started,” with the student, the affidavit alleged.
If convicted of engaging in sexual communication with a minor by use of technology, Palmer could be given as much as a 10-year prison term and a $10,000 fine, according to the felony charge filed by Payne County Assistant District Attorney Debra Vincent.
According to court records, the defendant was previously known by the surname of Ford, which was legally changed to Palmer on his request on April 23, 2012, in Logan County by District Judge Phillip Corley.
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