A Cleveland County teacher has been arrested in connection with propositioning a 15-year-old boy using social media apps.

Daniel Joseph Dyer

Daniel Joseph Dyer, age 27 of Kings Mountain, was arrested by the Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office on Jan. 28 and charged with one count of taking Indecent Liberties with a minor.

Dyer was issued a $25,000 secured bond, which was posted and he was released.  Taking Indecent Liberties with a minor is a Class F felony that carries a sentence of 10 to 41 months in jail.

Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office Maj. Joel Shores said that propositioned a 15-year-old boy over multiple social media platforms. Two specific apps used were Grinder and Snapchat.

“We want any parent who has a child that may have been in contact with Mr. Dyer to please go through their phone and look to make sure there’s no inappropriate messages,” said Shores.

The boy was not a student of the school at which Dyer worked.

Law enforcement was alerted after the teen’s father discovered multiple explicit messages between Dyer and his son. Allegedly, Dyer tried to set up a meeting with the boy.

After a forensic inspection of Dyer’s phone was completed he was arrested and charged.

Shores also asked the public to check the Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office Facebook page for a list of apps parents should be aware of and look for on their child’s devices.

Dyer was a full-time math teacher at Cleveland Early College High School beginning in 2015. He originally started as a student-teacher at the school in 2014.

Cleveland Early College’s website has taken down Dyer’s profile from their website. The same day he was charged, Dyer resigned from his teaching position.

In addition to teaching, Dyer was a part-time employee at Kings Mountain YMCA, as well as a youth leader at the Kings Mountain First Baptist Church.

Dyer holds an active NC teaching license in the area of Mathematics 9-12 with an expiration date of 06/30/2023.

The investigation is still open and Cleveland County deputies are investigating if there are other victims. Anyone with information can call Crime Stoppers at (704) 481-TIPS or the Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office at (704) 484-4900.

Dyer is the sixth teacher arrest tracked by this website in 2020.