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Public commenters accuse local officials of mishandling child‑abuse cases and urge term limits
Summary
During public input at the March 24 meeting of the Blount County Board of Commissioners, speakers alleged mishandling of child‑abuse cases and named local officials, while another speaker urged term limits citing entrenched incumbency.
Several residents used the public‑comment period at the Blount County Board of Commissioners meeting on March 24 to raise allegations about how child‑abuse cases and local court matters have been handled and to call for term limits.
Billy Dunleberger, who identified himself as a concerned citizen, said the county "just send[s] them on down the road" when people are accused of harming children and described a personal legal dispute in which he said his children were taken and protections were not enforced. "There's never nothing done to them," he said, adding, "I just want to know what's going to happen with all this child pedophile stuff that's going on in this county." The comment was made during the public‑comment portion of the meeting and no county response is recorded in the meeting transcript.
Jessica Saxton, who stated she is a law‑abiding citizen, named several people she described as risks to children and alleged that a juvenile court magistrate’s family member possessed and retained child‑abuse material. Saxton also raised allegations about the sheriff, alleging an earlier recorded threat and asking, "Where was the indictment for Sheriff Baron? Why wasn't he indicted for this crime?" These statements were presented as allegations by the speaker; the meeting record does not show a response from the sheriff or other officials during the session.
Shannon Kirkland of District 7 urged the commission to adopt term limits, arguing that long tenures among local officials reduce transparency and discourage participation. Kirkland said multiple local officeholders have served for many years and suggested that competitive elections and term limits would increase accountability.
The meeting record shows these were public comments; no formal action, staff response or investigation was initiated on the floor during the March 24 session. Allegations named specific individuals and subjects of potential criminal conduct; reporters and readers should treat claims as speaker assertions unless corroborated by public records or law‑enforcement filings.
