BLOUNT COUNTY, Tenn. — For the first time in a while, a Blount County Commission meeting attracted a full house of attendees Thursday. On the agenda was whether to expand an investigation into Joseph Dalton, a former teacher with Blount County Schools who pleaded guilty to five counts of offensive touching.
He has a history of complaints that he inappropriately touched children while he was a gym teacher. They include reports accusing him of touching young girls inappropriately, and some are substantiated by security camera footage that school resource officers said showed him caught in the act.
A school board member spoke during Thursday's meeting and said education leaders are working with a third party to investigate the work of human resources in the district. However, whether additional charges would be brought against him and how the investigation would be expanded was unclear.
Several other people spoke at the meeting, identifying themselves as survivors of sexual assault. One woman said her family filed a complaint against Dalton in 2005, while she was in kindergarten.
"I wish I would've seen it a long time ago when it happened. I was a little disappointed in the school system for letting it go on for that time," said Gracie Jones.
She said now that she's grown, she advocates for people who went through similar experiences. She spoke at the meeting Thursday night surrounded by her mother, father, aunt and fiance. Her mother said the family's faith has helped them since they filed the complaint.
They also said they want to speak up for others.
"It made me stronger to get through this," said Jean Jones, Gracie's mother.
Several people who spoke at the meeting also said they wanted to know why Dalton was allowed to stay employed for years with Blount County Schools after his first complaints. The school district has not provided information about it.