A New Jersey high school teacher was arrested for filming sexual abuse of students at his school and also children in restrooms at local malls.
Axel Palomares, a Spanish teacher and girls’ soccer coach at Saint Thomas Aquinas High School in Edison, New Jersey, was arrested on Tuesday and charged with creating and possessing child sexual abuse material, child endangerment, and invasion of privacy, according to a report by WABC-TV.
According to the report, the teacher “sexually abused students and taped said abuse in his classroom” and at local malls:
The warrant alleges that from April 2022 to at least March 2025, Palomares sexually abused students and taped said abuse in his classroom. Police claim that Palomares secretly photographed and filmed images of unaware undergarment-clad children and students in compromising positions at the school and at stores and restrooms at Bridgewater and Short Hills malls.
The 50-year-old working at the Catholic high school was reportedly detained without incident at his home in Morristown — roughly 20 miles west of Newark — after a warrant accusing him of sexually abusing students and filming the abuse in his classroom was issued for his arrest.
Prosecutors say Detective Ken McGarry of the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Unit for the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office opened an investigation into Palomares after being tipped off by New Jersey State Police.
The ICAC unit is tasked with investigating and prosecuting people who use the internet for child exploitation.
Police also arrived at the Saint Thomas Aquinas High School campus to investigate the matter, and the school is cooperating with authorities, the Catholic Diocese of Metuchen said.
“We are devastated to learn that some of our students’ privacy may have been violated by this sickening conduct,” the Diocese said, adding that counseling is available to students, and the school will work with authorities to better protect its students.
Palomares is currently being held at the Middlesex County Adult Correctional Facility, where he is awaiting the results of a pre-trial detention hearing.
The teacher was charged with second-degree Manufacturing of Child Sexual Abuse Material, second-degree Endangering the Welfare of a Child, third-degree Possession of Child Sexual Abuse Material, and fourth-degree Invasion of Privacy.
Alana Mastrangelo is a reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on Facebook and X at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.
