NJ Catholic high school stunned by child pornography arrest of teacher

🔺NJ teacher accused of creating child porn materials

🔺Allegations did involve students
🔺Man was teacher and coach

 UPDATE: Investigators reveal what they found after combing through school

EDISON — A teacher at a Catholic high school has been arrested and accused of creating child sexual abuse materials, including secretly filming students on school grounds.

Axel Palomares has taught Spanish at Saint Thomas Aquinas High School in Edison since the 2022-23 school year.

“We are devastated to learn that some of our students’ privacy may have been violated by this sickening conduct,” a statement from the Catholic Diocese of Metuchen said on Tuesday evening.

“The safety of our students is always a top priority of St. Thomas Aquinas high school and the Diocese of Metuchen. The actions of this individual, if true, are a betrayal of the trust of our students, faculty, and administration,” the statement said.

The 50-year-old Morristown resident was head coach for the girls’ soccer team for less than a year. The school had announced last August that he would take over the team. Earlier this month, the school announced a new girls’ head coach.

Palomares was arrested Tuesday after a search warrant was carried out at his home, Middlesex County Prosecutor Yolanda Ciccone said. Numerous electronic devices were recovered, including a small video recorder and two smart phones.

Files on the devices included child sexual abuse material involving young children, police said.

There were also what appeared to be secretly recorded videos of juvenile females' underwear, taken under skirts or shorts at public places and at least one video taken in school, according to an affidavit of probable cause.

Read More: NJ Catholic school teacher admits to ‘upskirt’ photos of students

State Police had shared a cyber tip with the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office and its Internet Crimes Against Children Unit launched an investigation. The case involved accounts on both Kik Messenger and Telegram that were traced back to Palomares.

He was charged with second-degree counts of manufacturing of child sexual abuse material, and endangering the welfare of a child, third-degree possession of child sexual abuse material and fourth-degree invasion of privacy.

The date of the offenses was listed as April 22, 2022, in court documents.

Church officials said that Palomares underwent the required criminal background checks and was “up to date and in compliance with all the policies and training requirements mandated by the school and the diocese.”

As of Tuesday, Palomares was "suspended until further notice," a diocese spokesperson said.

“School counselors stand ready to assist any student, and we will be working with the law enforcement community to ascertain if there are any better ways to safeguard our students from such nefarious and contemptible behavior,” the diocese said in its written statement.

Palomares was held at the Middlesex County Jail pending a detention hearing set for Friday.

Anyone with information was asked to call Detective Ken McGarry of the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office at 732-745-3140.

No attorney was listed for Palomares as of Tuesday evening.

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