(Stillwater, Okla.) — Former Yale High School math teacher and coach Joseph Kolt Palmer, 27, was ordered Monday to stand trial on a Payne County felony charge accusing him of sexting a 17-year-old female Yale High School student between March 3 and April 9 of 2016.
In court Monday, Palmer waived his right to a preliminary hearing on the felony charge accusing him of engaging in sexual communication with a minor by use of technology.
Palmer remains free on $10,000 bail pending his arraignment in trial court on April 5. Palmer had been arrested on the Payne County charge in Texas where he reportedly had been teaching.
Palmer was arrested on Sept. 20, 2016, by sheriff’s deputies in Kaufman County, Texas, according to a news release from the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation.
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 case was investigated by OSBI Agent Richard Brown on the request of Yale Police Chief Phillip Kelly for assistance on May 2, 2016, according to Brown’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 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, 2016, 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, 2016, 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, 2016, 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 sexting the minor student, Palmer could be given as much as a 10-year prison term and a $10,000 fine, court records show.
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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