Former Sylvania High School teacher sued for sex crimes

On October 31, 2024By Karl

DEKALB COUNTY, Ala. (WHEN) — A former Sylvania High School (SHS) teacher convicted of sex crimes is being sued by the father of one of the victims.

The father, identified as John Doe, filed a lawsuit on behalf of the victims to seek compensation. Dustin Dalton.

Dalton is a former sixth-grade teacher at SHS who was indicted on two dozen counts of disorderly conduct in 2021.

The lawsuit states that the victims are seeking damages against Dalton “in an amount that fully compensates for the physical injuries, mental distress, suffering, pain, humiliation, embarrassment, pain, and anxiety suffered by (them).” The consequence of Dalton’s actions.

It also seeks to pursue punitive damages against Dalton; which will punish them appropriately for constitutional, statutory and common law violations. The lawsuit states that victims should be awarded pre-judgment and post-judgment interest “at the highest rates permitted by law.”

On or about the 2016 school year, a victim’s mother said she saw her child wearing a class ring that belonged to Dalton. According to the lawsuit, the mother learned that Dalton had been communicating with her child through a social media app late at night.

The mother reported this behavior to the high school principal, but did not receive any follow-up contact from the principal regarding the actions taken against Dalton, the lawsuit states. In addition to the mother’s report, the lawsuit states that a former football coach at the school expressed concerns to the principal about Dalton’s inappropriate behavior with students.

Despite multiple warnings from a parent or another coach, no action was taken by the school to investigate Dalton’s behavior with students, according to the documents.

The lawsuit states that over a long period of time, beginning in 2019, Dalton began exchanging inappropriate and explicit messages with the victims, which included Dalton discussing his sexual acts with others during his college years.

It also states that Dalton sent sexually explicit content to one of the victims by “sending links to various porn sites and videos and encouraging (the victim) to send back similar content.”

In October 2020, one of the victims shared her experience with Dalton with her friend at basketball practice. After learning of this, the victim’s friend reported the matter to the school counselor on October 2, 2020, the lawsuit states.

In June 2021, A lawsuit was filed against Dalton three counts of first-degree sodomy, eight counts of distributing obscene material, two counts of soliciting sexual intercourse, two counts of seducing a child, five counts of having sexual intercourse with a student as a school employee, one count of first-degree sexual abuse, one count of second-degree sexual exploitation, one count of attempted sexual exploitation and one count of producing pornography with a minor and two counts of distributing obscene material.

On Nov. 1, 2021, court documents show Dalton pleaded guilty to lesser charges of sodomy and having a school employee engage in sexual intercourse with a student under the age of 19. As part of the plea agreement, Dalton was required to register as a gender. guilty.

Dalton was sentenced to a total of 10 years in state prison, with a requirement to serve at least three years before being eligible for five years’ probation.

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