An East Memphis father is taking Memphis-Shelby County Schools to court, filing a $4 million lawsuit that claims the district failed to protect his daughter after explicit material surfaced on her school-issued tablet. The complaint names former MSCS teacher Joseph Blodgett and accuses both Blodgett and the district of negligence and gross negligence.
The suit, filed Tuesday, alleges the father discovered videos and images on his daughter's district-issued device and that his child was "groomed and sexually exploited" by Blodgett. The complaint seeks $4,000,000 in damages for negligence and gross negligence, according to FOX13 Memphis.
Criminal Case Ties Into Civil Suit
Blodgett was indicted in 2022 on charges that include especially aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor, sexual exploitation of a minor, soliciting sexual exploitation and extortion. The indictment alleges the conduct occurred between October 2020 and May 2022, according to The Daily Memphian. The outlet reported that Blodgett taught at Oakhaven Middle and Wells Station Elementary while employed by MSCS, details that the new civil complaint also underscores.
District Timeline Under Scrutiny
Memphis-Shelby County Schools has previously said Blodgett's employment with the district ended in May 2022 and that it would cooperate with law enforcement, according to WMC Action News 5. The new lawsuit challenges how the district handled the situation internally and argues that its personnel moves and the timing of those actions amounted to negligence.
What The Lawsuit Alleges About MSCS
The complaint states that MSCS was notified after the father discovered the material in May 2022, yet did not immediately terminate Blodgett and instead moved him within the district. Blodgett, 51, has been in custody since 2022, and his bail was set at $10,000,000, according to the lawsuit and prior reporting. The father is quoted in the filing as saying his daughter was "groomed and sexually exploited," and the suit demands both financial damages and institutional accountability, FOX13 Memphis reports.
What Is At Stake In Court
The civil complaint brings negligence and gross negligence claims that, if proven, could leave the district on the hook for substantial damages even as the criminal case proceeds on a separate track. In civil court, the plaintiffs must meet a preponderance-of-the-evidence standard to win damages, while prosecutors in the criminal case must prove charges beyond a reasonable doubt.
Scheduling orders, discovery, and pretrial motions will dictate how quickly either case moves forward. For now, the filing adds to growing scrutiny over how schools respond to safety concerns involving students and school-issued technology and sets the stage for more court activity and potential hearings in the months ahead. Public court records and any further statements from the district or law enforcement will shape what comes next.
