Former coach gets a year in jail

The victim spoke first in Thursday’s sentencing hearing for the former Barnum girls basketball coach.

She talked about how she fell in love with basketball at age 12, and how the sport is forever tainted by her experience. She shared how her 33-year-old coach first started messaging her on the phone over Snapchat, asking if she would play on a slow pitch softball team that weekend, and how he didn’t want to take “no” for an answer. It got worse. He would ask her uncomfortable questions about her personal life, did she have a boyfriend, things that made her feel “sick.”

Then he asked her to come over to see his dog and have a fire. She went. She was 17. When she got there, her basketball coach took her into the bedroom, and had sex with her.

“There were tears running down my cheek,” she told a packed courtroom Thursday. It would happen two more times that month before her family found out and reported the crimes to the police.

Andrew John Palmer, 34, of Moose Lake was sentenced in Sixth District Carlton County Thursday, after pleading guilty to one count of third degree criminal sexual conduct in exchange for dismissal of two identical counts.

He will serve one year in either the Carlton County jail or NERCC, with Huber privileges granted to allow him to continue to work. Additionally, According to Minnesota State Statute, a person who engages in sexual penetration with another person is guilty of criminal sexual conduct in the third degree in a number of different scenarios, but one of those is “when the complainant is at least 16 but less than 18 years of age and the actor is more than 48 months older and in a current or recent position of authority over the complainant,” like a coach.

Assistant Carlton County attorney Jeffrey Boucher spoke to the harm Palmer did to his victim, her family and the entire community.

“It isn’t lost on me that this is the second time this year for me to argue a case where a high school basketball coach had sex with a player,” Boucher said. “It’s unacceptable and it must stop for the safety of all our children.”

“Before Mr. Palmer assaulted me, I was a starter, sometimes I would play the whole game,” she said. “My senior year, I felt if I didn’t do what he wanted, I would lose my spot.”

That year she developed an eating disorder and began to harm herself. She self-isolated. Her grades dropped. Thanks to supportive teachers, however, she was able to graduate and is now away at college. But she doesn’t like coming home because of what happened, and for a time, she drifted away from her sister, also her best friend, she told the court. It took her until this September to stop blaming herself for not leaving, she said.

Palmer also addressed the court. He apologized to his victim, and her family.

“I’m sorry,” he said to his victim. “I know no two-word phrase can take back what I did to you. It was wrong, disgusting, immoral and I deeply regret it.”

Palmer’s attorney, Kyle Dreger, asked for a downward departure in the sentencing, that Palmer not be sent to jail or prison, because he has shown that he is amenable to treatment and has “shown he can be successful on supervised probation” since he was arrested in January. If jail were imposed, Dreger asked that Palmer be given time to figure out his work and other things before his sentence began.

Judge Rebekka Stumme showed little sympathy for Palmer. She also grew up in a small community, played high school sports for coaches she admired, and now has daughters of her own. When parents entrust their children to a coach, “there should not be fear they will be preyed upon,” Stumme said.

Later the judge said many women feel sexual violence is simply part of being a girl.

“I’m here to say, sir, that it’s not,” she told Palmer. “There are consequences. Three times you planned this out, and you had the opportunity two times to fix this. You, sir, will serve jail time and you will start today. You’re gonna figure out your life from a jail cell.”

The judge also praised the victim for her “impressive courage.”

“I hope with time and healing, you will be proud of what you did. By saying what happened, you potentially kept others safe. You stood up to one of the most difficult things.”

Stumme sentenced Palmer to three years incarceration but stayed the sentence for seven years. Palmer must release all conditions of his sentence and probation, including sex offender treatment, and register as a sex offender upon his release. He may not have any unsupervised contact with minors under age 18 unless approved by the courts. He cannot contact his victim or her family, and must refrain from use of any mood altering substance, including alcohol. He can’t vote until he is discharged from probation.