Former Blount County Schools employee pleads guilty to offensive touching

MARYVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — A man described as a former PE coach and teacher has pled guilty to several counts of offensive touching. Reports from the Blount County Sheriff’s Office describe several incidents at two Blount County elementary schools that led to the charges.

Joseph Dalton pled guilty on September 4 to five counts of offensive touching assault. Blount County DA Ryan Desmond said sentencing has been set for November 6.

According to Blount County Schools, Dalton worked at school locations in Friendsville, Walland, and Lanier. The school system also released that he resigned on September 29, 2023. 6 News received the following statement from Blount County Schools about Dalton.

Student safety is a top priority for Blount County Schools. Our district works in collaboration with the Blount County Sheriff’s Office, Department of Children’s Services and the State Department of Education. We are dedicated to maintaining a safe and supportive learning environment for all students, staff and families by investigating matters swiftly and taking appropriate action according to board policy and state law.

Blount County Schools

6 News obtained multiple Blount County Sheriff’s Office incident reports detailing the incidents.

The first report received by 6 News was filed on September 28. It explains that an investigator with the District Attorney’s office visited Walland Elementary School on September 28 to investigate allegations against Dalton. The investigator reviewed video from September 25, which showed Dalton placing his arm around a student’s neck and shoulder pulling them close to his body and placing his face on their face for “an extended period of time” and then he “kissed or attempted to kiss the student on the forehead”, according to the report. It goes on to say that the student could be seen pushing Dalton away.

Another report said that the investigator reviewed additional school video from September 25 and saw Dalton lift his arms in an attempt to encouraging a student their arms and, and when the student did, Dalton touched their underarms in a “tickling” manner. This report also laid out a conversation on September 29 with the student where they told him that “Coach Dalton just gets really close to me, too close sometimes, and makes me feel uncomfortable.”

An incident report filed by a Blount County officer said that on September 29, while working as the SRO at Heritage Middle School, he was notified about an incident at Walland Elementary School, involving Dalton and a student. At the school, the officer was told that Dalton was under investigation for his interactions with students.

The officer then reviewed video footage of an incident on September 25, 2023. According to the report, the video showed Dalton pulling a student away from the other students and wrapping his body around them. The report added that while holding the student, Dalton bounced and shook his body against the student. The student pulled away from him and looked upset by the interaction according to the report.

The next two reports received by 6 News were filed in October and dealt with incidents at Friendsville Elementary School. The first report filed on October 11, said that a deputy, who was reviewing surveillance video at Friendsville Elementary School, watched Dalton hug a third-grade student “closely to his face with both arms wrapped around [them] and on one occasion stood behind the student with [them] between his legs swaying back and forth while playing a game in gym class.”

In another report from October 13, 2023, the deputy said he found video from Friendsville Elementary showing that on September 22, 2023, at 12:59 p.m. and 1:03 p.m., Dalton put a student on the ground and stood above them for an extended amount of time. The report goes on to say that the student followed Dalton into his office and it looked like he gave the student a piece of candy.

According to the reports, Dalton was taken into custody on January 5.

EDITOR’S NOTE: This story has been updated with additional information provided by Blount County Schools clarifying where Dalton worked and when his employment with the school system ended.

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