Elizabethtown man given probation after molesting child accused of molesting two other children

joseph-sweat-09-21
joseph-sweat-09-21

An Elizabethtown man convicted of molesting a small child has again been arrested, this time for sexually abusing two other small children.

Joseph W. Sweat, 38, was arrested Thursday morning at the Hardin County Justice center and charged with two counts of first-degree sexual abuse of a child younger than 12, according to a report by The News-Enterprise.

The newspaper reports that court documents accuse Sweat of having sexual contact on several occasions with two children between the ages of seven and 12. The documents say he touched the children underneath their clothing, showed the children child pornography and exposed himself to the children.

The victims later told family members about the abuse.

In the previous case, Sweat was charged with three counts of first-degree sexual abuse involving an eight-year-old girl in January 2018. The abuse occurred at two locations in December 2017, first, when the victim slept over at Sweat’s home, and later in a tent set up in the living room of the victim’s residence.

Instead of the young victim enduring a trial, the newspaper reports her parents agreed to allow Sweat to plead guilty to second-degree sexual abuse, a class A misdemeanor, for which he was placed on two years probation, ordered to undergo counseling and register as a sex offender. When Sweat pled guilty to the misdemeanor in November 2018, prosecutors said they wanted to avoid a trial because of inconsistent statements from the victim, according to the newspaper.

Sweat is being held in the Hardin County Detention Center on a $25,000 cash bond.

By Ken Howlett, News Director

Contact Ken at ken@k105.com