by: Rebecca Teutsch
DEKALB COUNTY, Ala. (WHNT) — A former Sylvania High School (SHS) teacher, convicted of sex crimes, is being sued by the father of one of the victims.
On behalf of the victims, the father, identified as John Doe, has filed a lawsuit to seek compensation against Dustin Dalton.
Dalton is a former sixth-grade teacher at SHS who was indicted on two dozen inappropriate behavior charges in 2021.
The lawsuit states the victims are seeking compensatory damages against Dalton “in an amount that will fully compensate [them] for the physical injuries, mental distress, anguish, pain, humiliation, embarrassment, suffering and concern that [they] have suffered” as a result of Dalton’s actions.
It also seeks to make a recording against Dalton for punitive damages “as will properly punish them for the constitutional, statutory and common law violations.” The lawsuit states the victims should be awarded prejudgement and post-judgment interest “at the highest rates allowed by law.”
In or around the 2016 school year, the mother of a victim stated she saw her child wearing a class ring belonging to Dalton. According to the lawsuit, the mother learned Dalton had been contacting her child on a social media app late at night.
The mother reported the behavior to the principal of the high school but the lawsuit states she did not receive any follow-up conversations from the principal regarding actions taken against Dalton. In addition to the mother’s report, the lawsuit states a former football coach at the school expressed concerns about Dalton’s inappropriate conduct with students to the principal.
According to the documents, despite several warnings from a parent or another coach, no action was taken by the school to investigate Dalton’s conduct with students.
The lawsuit says for an extended period of time beginning in 2019, Dalton began exchanging inappropriate and explicit messages with the victims that would include Dalton discussing his sexual acts with others during his college years.
It also says Dalton sent explicit content to one of the victims by sending “links to various porn sites, videos and encouraging [the victim] to send back similar content.”
In October 2020, one of the victims shared his experiences with Dalton with his friend at basketball practice. After learning of this, the lawsuit says the victim’s friend reported the issue to the school counselor on October 2, 2020.
In June 2021, Dalton was indicted on three counts of first-degree sodomy, eight counts of distributing obscene material, two counts of soliciting a sex act, two counts of child enticement, five counts of being a school employee engaging in a sex act with a student, one count of first-degree sex abuse, one count of second-degree sex abuse, one count of attempted sexual abuse and one count of producing pornography with a minor and two counts of distributing obscene material.
On November 1, 2021, court documents show Dalton pleaded guilty to the lesser charges of sodomy and a school employee having sexual contact with a student under the age of 19. As a part of the plea agreement, Dalton was required to register as a sex offender.
Dalton was sentenced to a total of 10 years in state prison with the requirement to serve at least three years before being eligible for release to supervised probation for five years.
