A Dalton Police officer has been charged with child molestation.
Daniel Harrison Tolbert, 32, was arrested Thursday and booked at the Whitfield County Jail.
The Dalton Police Department placed officer Tolbert on administrative leave nine days ago, immediately after being informed by the Whitfield County Sheriff’s Office and Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) that he was being investigated on suspicion of child molestation.
Tolbert was arrested on a charge of child molestation by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation shortly after 5 p.m. on Thursday.
Tolbert has served in the Dalton Police Department for three months after completing the police academy in September. He was sworn in on Sept. 16. At the time of his suspension, Tolbert was still in the department’s field training program. Because of his status as a trainee, Tolbert was never unsupervised or alone while on duty as a Dalton officer. Probationary trainees ride with an experienced training officer for three phases of field training for at least four months after completing the police academy.
While Tolbert is on administrative leave, the city will begin the process of his termination immediately.
“I am very disappointed to hear about this allegation, and upset about the discredit this will surely bring on our department and officers,” said Dalton Police Chief Jason Parker. “We would never condone or support the kind of behavior that would warrant this charge….the men and women of this department hold ourselves to a very high standard of behavior, and we know the community we serve expects our behavior to be beyond reproach.”