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Former school physical therapist facing felony sexual abuse charge

Bluefield Daily Telegraph - 5/16/2017

May 16--PRINCETON -- A former physical therapist for Mercer County Schools is facing a felony sexual abuse charge after a graphic photo of a 6-year-old child was found on his cellphone.

A case concerning Charles "Charlie" Dodson, 41, of Bluefield began when Sgt. M.D. Clemons, with the West Virginia State Police Crimes Against Children Unit, received a complaint about a graphic image of a female child that was allegedly seen on his cellphone, according to court records. The woman who reported the photograph said it showed nudity.

The woman who filed the complaint said she confronted Dodson, who said he photographed the child because she looked "cute" sleeping and had texted the photograph to his brother-in-law, Clemons said in the criminal complaint.

Clemons described she executed a search warrant at Dodson's Bluefield home. Several photographs of the child that were shot on Dec. 17, 2015, were found on his cellphone.

"The photographs depicted (the child) lying on a bed nude ..." Clemons said. In one photograph, Dodson was lying on the bed next to the child, according to the report.

Clemons also stated that she was able to determine that one of the photographs had been texted to Dodson's relative. The child was 6 years old when the photographs were taken and texted, according to the report.

Dodson was arrested May 12 and charged with sexual abuse by a parent, guardian or custodian. After being arraigned, he was released on a $30,000 bond.

The Mercer County Board of Education has suspended Dodson's contracted services with the school system, where he was a physical therapist for disabled children, according to a statement released by the board.

Clemons said there was "never any indication that anything happened at school or with any children he treated."

The investigation remains ongoing.

-- Bluefield Daily Telegraph Editor Samantha Perry contributed to this report.

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(c)2017 the Bluefield Daily Telegraph (Bluefield, W.Va.)

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