A Catholic high school teacher and coach in New Jersey has been arrested and charged with photographing and filming children and students and distributing the material over an app.
Axel Palomares, 50, allegedly made the recordings and images at Saint Thomas Aquinas High School, where he worked, and at stores and restrooms in area malls.
A warrant says that some of the recordings were made in his classroom, WABC reported.
Detective Ken McGarry of the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office’s Internet Crimes Against Children Unit said the department launched its investigation after receiving a tip from an app where Palomares allegedly shared his material. The material was recorded from April 2022 until at least March 2025, the warrant says.
Palomares was arrested on Tuesday at his home in Morristown. Investigators also went to the school campus, and the Catholic Diocese of Metuchen said they were cooperating.
“We are devastated to learn that some of our students’ privacy may have been violated by this sickening conduct,” the diocese said in statement.
The prosecutor’s office said Palomares has been charged with manufacturing child abuse material, endangering the welfare of a child, possession of child abuse material, and invasion of privacy.
Anyone with information is encouraged to contact McGarry at 732-745-3140.
