A teacher at a Los Angeles school that counts singer Adam Levine among its alumni has been arrested after allegedly engaging in an affair with a 16-year-old student.
Chemistry professor Aimee Palmitessa, 45, was arrested on Friday morning and booked in on felony charges at the city’s Metropolitan Detention Center, DailyMail.com can disclose.
The pretty blonde, who works for the elite Brentwood School, posted bail of $230,000 and was released later the same day.
Chemistry professor Aimee Palmitessa, 45, was arrested on Friday morning and booked in on felony charges at the city’s Metropolitan Detention Center
Palmitessa, seen left in a Facebook photo, works for the elite Brentwood School, posted bail of $230,000 and was released later the same day
Palmitessa is pictured in a Facebook photo with students above. Those pictured are not involved with the allegations
Aimee Palmitessa who was arrested for underage sex with a pupil of Brentwood School where she worked
An aerial view of the Brentwood School. Famous alumni include Patrick Schwarzenegger, 23, whose parents are former California governor Arnold, 70, and his ex-wife Maria Shriver, 61, and Maroon 5 frontman Adam Levine, 38
Los Angeles Police Department sources confirmed the 45-year-old’s arrest to DailyMail.com and said she is being investigated over her relationship with the male student, who has not been named.
Details of the arrest and the circumstances that led up to it have not been made public but Palmitessa is now due to appear in court in LA on September 15.
Palmitessa was not available for comment on Saturday but her partner, Vincent Bruzzese, 53, told DailyMail.com: ‘I know nothing about this. I have no comment.’
Calls and emails to Brentwood School and Principal Dr. Michael Riera, 61, went unanswered.
Palmitessa has been employed at Brentwood School, which charges up to $40,760 a year for tuition, since September 2010.
Vicente Bruzzese leaves his house on Saturday after his partner Aimee Palmitessa was arrested for sex with a minor
Bruzzese, 53, told DailyMail.com: ‘I know nothing about this. I have no comment’
Bruzzese was seen leaving his home Saturday. Palmitessa holds a degree in biology from Syracuse University and later studied biochemistry and biophysics at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia
The school sits in one of LA’s ritziest neighborhoods and is famous for attracting celebrity parents, among them Harrison Ford and Calista Flockhart, whose son Liam, 16, is a pupil there.
Famous alumni include Patrick Schwarzenegger, 23, whose parents are former California governor Arnold, 70, and his ex-wife Maria Shriver, 61, and Maroon 5 frontman Adam Levine, 38.
Comedian Jonah Hill, 33, Boy Meets World actor Ben Savage, 36, and socialite Talita von Fürstenberg, 18, also attended the school.
Palmitessa is seen above with a group of students. None of those pictured are involved in the allegations
The educational establishment celebrates its famous former faces on its website, providing links to interviews with Levine and Hill among others, and boasting ‘[Brentwood] alumni go everywhere’.
Principal Riera, who styles himself to students and parents as Dr. Mike, is also no stranger to the small screen and has had his books featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show.
During a break from teaching in the late 90s and early noughties, he worked as parenting correspondent on the CBS Saturday Early Show and hosted a daily Sirius Satellite Radio show called Family Talk with Dr. Mike.
Prior to moving to Los Angeles, she held a teaching post at Pennsylvania State Abingdon University before moving west and taking on roles at UCLA and the Academy of Couture Art in West Hollywood. She is pictured above with a group of students
Palmitessa is seen center in a Facebook photo. She was awarded a PHD in biochemistry and molecular biology by Thomas Jefferson University, also in Philadelphia, and wrote a paper on arresting the ageing process as part of her research work
‘It all depends on chemistry’: News of Palmitessa’s employment was announced in campus publication, Blue Toad in 2010
Raised in Jakarta, Indonesia, Palmitessa holds a degree in biology from Syracuse University and later studied biochemistry and biophysics at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.
She was awarded a PHD in biochemistry and molecular biology by Thomas Jefferson University, also in Philadelphia, and wrote a paper on arresting the ageing process as part of her research work.
Prior to moving to Los Angeles, she held a teaching post at Pennsylvania State Abingdon University before moving west and taking on roles at UCLA and the Academy of Couture Art in West Hollywood.
Famous alumni include Patrick Schwarzenegger, 23, whose parents are former California governor Arnold, 70, and his ex-wife Maria Shriver, 61, and Maroon 5 frontman Adam Levine, 38
Calista Flockhart (L), Harrison Ford and Liam Flockhart (R) attend a basketball game between the Charlotte Hornets and the Los Angeles Lakers at Staples Center on January 31, 2016 in Los Angeles. Liam attends the school
Police Headquarters where Palmitessa was taken and released from after being arrested
She joined Brentwood School in 2010 as a chemistry teacher, with news of her employment announced in campus publication, Blue Toad.
In it, she discusses her love of chemistry, telling students: ‘I am just consistently amazed at the intricacies of life as we know it and how it all depends on chemistry.’
Of her decision to move into teaching, she added: ‘I finally decided to try and do something that combined my interests and got me away from staring into a microscope for 10 hours a day, seven days a week.’
Speaking about the school itself, Palmitessa said: ‘The campus is beautiful, the faculty are wonderful and the students are motivated and intelligent.
‘It’s a pleasure to be a part of the Brentwood community.’
Since then, Palmitessa appears to have thrown herself into campus life; regularly taking part in school events and academic competitions.
In 2013, she mentored Brentwood student David Zimmerman to a second place finish in the California State Science Fair senior microbiology contest.
And in June this year, she played the role of advisor to a group of Brentwood pupils taking part in a ‘hackathon’ technology challenge at UCLA.
Outside of school, Palmitessa appears to enjoy an active social life, with friends putting photos of nights out in Venice Beach on their social media profiles.
Her academic biography lists her hobbies as cooking, traveling, bikram yoga, spinning and listening to music.
Police records detail her arrest on Friday and show that she posted $230,000 bail