Anti-child-porn vigilante’s trap yields guilty plea from former Minneapolis teacher lured to park

An anti-child-porn vigilante’s trap has led to a guilty plea from a onetime Minneapolis teacher who went to a park near his school seeking to swap sexually explicit images of children.

Preston Casey Palmer, 35, pleaded guilty Monday in Hennepin County District Court to six felony counts involving solicitation, possession and distribution of child pornography in connection with his arrest on May 14 at Brackett Field Park, close to the school where he worked.

The plea agreement reached between prosecutors and the defense calls for Palmer to receive a 10-year sentence. With credit for time in jail since his arrest, he is expected to serve the first 6⅓ years in prison and the balance on supervised release.

In the meantime, Palmer remains jailed in lieu of $75,000 bail ahead of sentencing, which is scheduled for Dec. 2.

Palmer 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 since he was hired last November.

Sullivan, with grades pre-K through eighth, is located in the Longfellow neighborhood, 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 said.

Palmer was arrested after he was lured to the park by Alex Rosen, leader of Predator Poachers, whose members purposely lure alleged pedophiles, then post videos of suspects being apprehended by police. Rosen’s X account has more than 480,000 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 posing as the boy’s father.