Story by Reporter Eloize
Kenneth Palmer, a paraprofessional at Jefferson Elementary School in Maplewood, NJ was sentenced to 10 years for multiple counts of sexual assault and one count of endangering the welfare of a child.
Palmer, 22, was arrested on September 28, 2017 in a different case and during the investigation, videos of Palmer masturbating in front of children in school hallways were discovered by authorities. Additionally, he took an “upskirt” photo of a young girl at the school. The crimes were committed in the hallways of Jefferson Elementary School where Palmer worked. It was not clear whether the children observed this conduct, but the law does not require the children to have observed.
Palmer was charged in Essex County with sexual assault for acts of criminal sexual contact in view of children younger than 13 years old. Palmer was sentenced to 10 years, subjected under the No Early Release Act, by The Honorable John Zunic, Judge of the Superior Court.
“New Jersey law protects children under the age of 13 from being subjected to sexual conduct like this, regardless of whether they saw or understood it,” Assistant Prosecutor Deborah Freier, who handled the case on behalf of the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office, said.
