Former Harrisonville teacher charged with five counts of sexual contact with student
A former Harrisonville High School teacher and coach has been charged with five counts of sexual contact with a student more than two years after police began investigating allegations of misconduct.
A warrant for the arrest of Joseph Dahman, who is also the 29-year-old son of the district’s former superintendent, was issued Tuesday. He turned himself in on Wednesday morning. He was being held on a $50,000 cash-only bond, according to the Harrisonville Police Department.
Charges were filed Tuesday morning in Cass County.
Public records released earlier this year showed a total of $4 million was paid on behalf of the Harrisonville School District to settle two separate lawsuits that accused Dahman of having sexual relationships with two students.
The investigation began in 2017 with allegations about Dahman, who resigned as a support staff member and coach that year after being put on administrative leave.
His father, Frank Dahman, resigned as superintendent the following year, after being put on leave without public explanation.
The alleged sexual contact involving Joseph Dahman and a student took place in July 2017, according to charging documents.
Later that summer, in August 2017, the Harrisonville Police Department announced it was investigating “alleged inappropriate conduct” between a high school staffer and a student. The school district at the time stated it was made aware of the allegations and then contacted law enforcement and the state Children’s Division.
The case was turned over to Jackson County and was not handled by Cass County prosecutors due to a conflict of interest, The Star reported in 2018.
Charges filed against Joseph Dahman
Police began investigating Dahman in August 2017 for inappropriate contact with a student who was 15 years old at the time, according to charging documents. During the investigation, Dahman allegedly admitted to receiving “inappropriate pictures” from the student, but denied sending her anything.
Dahman also allegedly denied having any contact with the student outside of school, but later admitted to going by her house no more than twice to say, “What’s up.” He later said he gave her a ride home from middle school as well, court documents show.
Days after the investigation started, another girl contacted a Harrisonville High School counselor saying she had heard rumors about the investigation and thought they were about her.
According to court documents, the girl, who was 17 years old at the time, told a high school counselor and later family members, that she had sex with Dahman over the summer.
The girl said that in early July 2017, she was with friends and messaged Dahman about hanging out. He responded that his fiance was home, but he would message her when she left so that the girl could come over.
The girl said she went over to Dahman’s parent’s house and entered the residence through a window. Dahman allegedly gave the girl a drug and a short time later performed a sex act.
They later went to woods behind the house to smoke marijuana, documents say, and then returned where they allegedly had sex,.
The girl told investigators that was not the first time they had sexual contact, according to the documents. She said there were other times as well.
On Aug. 31, 2017, Harrisonville police detectives and the Cass County Sheriff’s Office searched Frank Dahman’s home. They had been provided a drawing of the room the girl had done for investigators. The room in the back of the house was consistent with the drawing done by the 17-year-old.
One difference, however, was there was no bed. Instead, a buffet was in the room, which Frank Dahman told authorities had been moved into the room shortly before the search was executed.
During a search of Joseph Dahman’s phone and school issued computer, as well as the girls’ phones, investigators found text messages referencing drugs as well as a picture that appeared on his phone and one of the girl’s phone of possible marijuana joints and lines of white powder with Joseph Dahman’s AAA card.
One of the girl’s phones had a text message from Dahman asking where she was. The other girl’s phone had contact information for Dahman and call logs showing calls between March and July 2017.
Investigators also conducted a test which indicated that the mixture of DNA found on a blanket was more likely from the girl and Dahman than from another unknown male.
The test also showed that the DNA matched Dahman’s DNA, according to the Harrisonville Police Department.
According to court documents, Dahman was a high school ISS/Focus Facilitator for the 2015-16 and 2016-17 school years. He was also a strength and conditioning coach from May to July 2017. He had returned as an ISS/Focus Facilitator for the 2017-2018 school year.
An attorney for Joseph Dahman has not yet been listed in online court records in the criminal case. Mark Katz, a Kansas City attorney who represented Joseph Dahman in the civil cases, did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday evening.
This story was originally published June 24, 2020 at 10:55 AM.
