KNOXVILLE (WATE) – A former Knox County Schools custodian was convicted Friday of soliciting explicit photographs of underage girls over Facebook messenger.
Dustin Dotson, 37, was convicted of three counts of three counts of solicitation of a minor. Dotson pleaded guilty and received the maximum sentence of six years. A sentencing hearing is set for December 15 to determine how exactly it will be served.
During the court hearing, prosecutors said a mother contacted the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force in June to say her 13-year-old daughter was receiving inappropriate messages from Dotson. Dotson’s father is the pastor of a church where the victim had dance practice and Dotson was present for many of those practices.
An investigator assumed the girl’s Facebook identity to conduct an undercover investigation into Dotson. During the investigation, Dotson requested the girl send nude photographs of herself. Dotson was arrested and admitted soliciting nude photos from this and other underage girls.
After the first media reports of Dotson’s arrest, two additional victims, one age 11 and one 12, reported Dotson had also solicited explicit photos from them.
Dotson worked at Inskip Elementary as a custodian since July 21, 2015. He was fired shortly after his first arrest and banned from any Knox County school property.