BLOUNT COUNTY, Tenn. — WBIR requested Joseph Dalton's personnel file with Blount County Schools after he pleaded guilty to five counts of offensive touching last week. It was 110 pages long.
Those documents contained evidence Dalton was subject to several allegations of touching students, including some allegations that opened investigations by the Department of Children's Services.
The files show Joseph Dalton was hired in 2001 as a teaching assistant at William Blount High School. In 2005, records from the Blount County Sheriff's Office show parents reported he touched a student on the stomach, leg and genital area. At the time, Dalton was the gym teacher at Porter Elementary School.
In 2012, his personnel file shows he was formally reprimanded by the principal at Fairview Elementary School. The report said Dalton called a special education student, "the seizure girl." The reprimand from the principal said the girl had Tourette syndrome and epilepsy. The principal encouraged Dalton to use appropriate communication with all students at all times.
In February 2019, the principal of Townsend Elementary School got a call from a parent who said a male student had noticed Dalton giving girls in physical education special treatment. That student also said girls were seen sitting on Dalton's lap. The principal talked to Dalton.
According to the report, Dalton's response to the principal was that he let girls sit on his lap in the past, but that it wasn't happening at that time.
And on Oct. 30, 2019, a teacher reported that a student told her Dalton grabbed her buttocks.
On Nov. 8, 2019, Blount County Schools suspended Dalton without pay.
Documents from the Department of Children Services say there was an open investigation into Dalton's behavior, but it was closed in June 2022 due to "unsubstantiated claims" and said that the allegations were around five years old.
In September 2023, Blount County Schools told Dalton in a letter that he was suspended without pay again. Dalton resigned and said he was taking a position outside of teaching, providing a statement to the district.
“While I am confident the current investigations will show I have complied with all of the requirements of my position and of the profession, the accusations themselves, rumors, and lack of support for specialty teachers, in general, will not allow me to have the kind of relationships with students, parents and staff members that is needed for the success we all want to see," the statement said.
Blount County Commission is considering launching an investigation into the school district. Commissioners will vote on a resolution on Sept. 19.