Maryville teacher and worship leader accused of sexual assault was girl's vocal coach

Tyler Whetstone, Knoxville News Sentinel
·2 min read
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The Maryville Apostolic Christian Academy teacher charged with three counts of sexual assault of a minor was the girl's vocal coach, Knox News has learned.

Joseph "Kade" Abbott taught the 14-year-old in the School of Music at the academy, which is housed inside First Apostolic Church Maryville. The two met weekly one-on-one during school hours, according to a source with knowledge of the situation who was not authorized to speak publicly.

Abbott, 26, has been charged with three counts of sexual assault by an authority figure, all stemming from allegations he abused the girl. The original charge is from Blount County, where the campus is located.

The other two counts are from Sevier County where, Knox News has learned, Abbott participated with the school in the National Apostolic Christian School Competition at Gatlinburg’s Rocky Top Sports World.

Abbott was a middle school teacher at the school and a worship leader at the church. He was listed as a staff member as recently as August.

What are the Sevier County charges?

The Sevier County charges come from the time the teachers and student spent at the competition, which brings together Apostolic students from across the country to compete in sports such as track and field, basketball, volleyball and softball throwing. It also has competitions for arts and crafts, music and Bible verse memorization.

The date of the 2022 competition, May 23-26, match the dates on Abbott’s Sevier County indictment.

The girl competed in a number of vocal competitions, according to the source.

About Abbott's arrest

Abbott was arrested in January in North Carolina and brought to Blount County where he was released on a $200,000 bond. Abbott later turned himself into Sevier County authorities March 17 and posted a $75,000 bond.

Joseph "Kade" Abbott has been charged with three counts of sexual assault by an authority figure. He gave the victim private voice lessons at Apostolic Christian Academy which is housed inside First Apostolic Church of Maryville.
Joseph "Kade" Abbott has been charged with three counts of sexual assault by an authority figure. He gave the victim private voice lessons at Apostolic Christian Academy which is housed inside First Apostolic Church of Maryville.

A Blount County judge allowed Abbott to return to Mississippi, where he's from, with a monitoring device.

He is scheduled to be back in Blount County court April 17 for a status hearing. He is scheduled to be arraigned the following day in Sevier County.

Tyler Whetstone is an investigative reporter focused on accountability journalism. Email tyler.whetstone@knoxnews.com. Twitter @tyler_whetstone.

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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Maryville teacher accused of sexual assault was girl's vocal coach