SEVIERVILLE — A former Maryville private school teacher is facing new charges of sexual assault by an authority figure over alleged incidents that happened in Sevier County last May.
Joseph Kade Abbott, 26, of Hamilton, Mississippi, was already facing charges of sexual assault by an authority figure in Blount County. He was booked there in January and released after posting $200,000 bond.
On Friday, he turned himself in at the Sevier County Jail on two new counts of the charge based on an indictment from a Sevier County grand jury. He was quickly released after posting $75,000 bond.
A Sevier County Grand Jury found there was sufficient evidence to charge Abbot on allegations that he had inappropriate contact with a teen under his supervision while in Gatlinburg from May 23-26 of last year.
Abbott was a middle school teacher at Apostolic Church Academy in Maryville at that time, according to a faculty listing archived on the internet.
The indictment doesn’t say where in Sevier County the alleged incidents occurred, although it shows witnesses included a Gatlinburg Police officer and a detective from Blount County, as well as Zach Hammond, pastor of the First Apostolic Church, which owns the Apostolic Christian Academy.
A lawsuit filed in Blount County by the victim’s family in August says that Abbott assaulted her “on multiple occasions in 2022.” The family is suing Abbott as well as the church, saying the church should have known that Abbott was “an unsafe and/or reckless custodian of minor children.”
They’re seeking $4.5 million in the lawsuit.
Abbott had also been scheduled to have a court appearance in Blount County on Friday related to the criminal charges, but that hearing was rescheduled.
Contact Jeff at jfarrell@themountainpress.com or Twitter at @jeffmtnpress
