MARYVILLE, Tenn. — A man charged with sex crimes against a minor will have his case heard by a Blount County grand jury next week, according to the Blount County Clerk's Office.
Joseph Kade Abbott, from North Carolina, was charged with sexual battery by an authority figure in January 2023. Those charges are connected to his employment at First Apostolic Church of Maryville.
The arrest warrant in the case said Abbott was accused of having unlawful sexual contact with a minor who was over 13 years old and under the age of 18 years old. According to the warrant, the acts occurred in June 2022.
Abbott is facing similar charges in Sevier County. Court records show Abbott posted bond in both cases and was not incarcerated as of Feb. 28.
A civil lawsuit filed by the victim's parents in Blount County in August 2022 accuses Abbott of sexually assaulting a juvenile at the Apostolic Christian Academy in Maryville on several occasions. Abbott was employed there at that time.
The lawsuit argues the First Apostolic Church of Maryville and the Apostolic Christian Academy "exhibited an extreme degree of negligence" when supervising staff and students, which endangered children there.
The lawsuit asks the church and Abbott to pay the juvenile a total of $3 million and the juvenile's parents a total of $1.5 million in damages.
The Blount County Sheriff's Office said it started investigating Abbot in June 2022. Abbott was arrested in North Carolina in January 2023.
In February 2023 a Sevier County grand jury returned two new sexual battery charges against Abbott, where he's accused of having sexual contact with a child in Sevier County. The indictment said those incidents happened in May 2022.