(Stillwater, Okla.) — The jury trial on sexting and rape charges for former Yale High School math teacher and coach Joseph Kolt Palmer, 29, that had been scheduled to be held this week in Payne County District Court, has been postponed until January on the agreement of the prosecution and defense.
Palmer, who had a dark beard when he appeared in court last week, could be given as much as a 25-year prison term if convicted of sexting a then-17-year-old female student and having sexual intercourse with her in 2016.
When Payne County Associate District Judge Stephen Kistler asked prosecutor Debra Vincent on Oct. 3 how long the trial would take, she replied “three days.” The judge then scheduled Palmer’s trial for Jan. 9, 10 and 11 of next year — each day beginning at 9 a.m.
Palmer, who did not say anything in court last week, has been ordered to appear before the Payne County judge again on Dec. 19 for a final pre-trial hearing.
Palmer was arrested in the Payne County case on Sept. 20, 2016, by sheriff’s deputies in Kaufman County, Texas, according to a news release from the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation. Palmer, who reportedly had been teaching in Texas, remains free on $10,000 bail.
On Aug. 20, the judge had ruled that statements made by Palmer to an Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation agent regarding his alleged relationship with a then-17-year-old female Yale High School student could be admitted into evidence at his jury trial.
“There were no threats, no promises, no coercion, no deception by the interviewing agent,” made to Palmer when he spoke to OSBI Agent Richard Brown two years ago, the judge ruled at the close of a 40-minute hearing.
After the original sexting charge was filed, which was later amended to include a second-degree rape count, Payne County District Attorney Laura Austin Thomas said in an email, “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 DA added.
The case was investigated by the OSBI on the request of Yale Police Chief Phillip Kelly for assistance on May 2, 2016, according to the agent’s affidavit.
When Palmer was interviewed by the OSBI agent four days later, 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 full-time 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.
Palmer admitted to the OSBI agent that he used his iphone6 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 text messages on a cell phone between March 3 and April 9 of 2016, Palmer could be given as much as a 10-year prison term and a $10,000 fine.
If convicted of second-degree rape by having sexual intercourse with a student at least age 16 but under age 20, while he was an employee of the Yale school system on Feb. 13, 2016, Palmer could be given as much as a 15-year prison term, court records show.
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