YORK COUNTY, Va. — Joseph Molineaux, the retired Kempsville High School gym teacher facing numerous charges in York County and Virginia Beach, was sentenced Thursday in York County to serve six months in jail for sending violent threats via text message to members of his family.
Molineaux was arrested on the grounds of Kempsville at the end in April after allegedly sending threatening text messages to a family member about school administrators. He was charged with trespassing on school grounds with weapons in his car, and police say they later found AK-style weapons and child pornography in his home.
The five charges stem from alleged threats he made via text back in April. Molineaux pleaded guilty to three of the five charges — each carrying a five year sentence; however, all but six months of that 15-year total were suspended.
Watch previous coverage: VB Schools responds to coverage of jailed former teacher
A criminal complaint says the day before he was arrested on school grounds, Molineaux texted his mother the following message, referring to his dog: "she grounds me and keeps me from going into Walmart or into Kempsville High School with an AK-47 and mowing down administration."
Records discovered in the York County Courthouse state that he told law enforcement he was intoxicated and meant no harm, adding that he would never do anything like that and was frustrated. He allegedly told police that he was just venting to his mom.
But in court Thursday, we learned that the threats were not just related to Kempsville administrators, but his own family members, too.
Watch previous coverage: Teen recounts seeing private photo on gym teacher's phone
The 59-year-old from Virginia Beach was hired by Virginia Beach City Public Schools in August of 1999 and retired in February of 2023 as a PE Teacher at Kempsville High, according to the school division.
The WTKR News 3 Investigative Team uncovered that Molineaux was put on administrative leave after a 14-year-old student reported seeing a picture of Molineaux's genitals on his phone.
The teen told News 3 Molineaux asked him to take his photo with his cell phone outside of the Kempsville Recreation Center. The student said when he looked at the phone, in the bottom left corner of the screen, the last image he saw was a naked image of the teacher on the camera roll wearing the leather jacket he had on during the encounter.
Watch previous coverage: Molineaux had record of 'disturbing behavior'
WTKR uncovered a lengthy disciplinary record provided to us from the Virginia Department of Education that states Molineaux was reprimanded several times during his two-decade long career with VBCPS.
The disciplinary record outlines accusations about him making inappropriate comments to students about their personal relationships, yelling at boys in the locker room and reportedly calling them "motherf***ers," a substitute teacher he texted about her gender, and an alleged threatening voice mail left to a reporter at the Virginian-Pilot newspaper.
Police say they found child pornography in his home after he was arrested for trespassing on school property, according to court documents. He has a hearing scheduled for those charges in Virginia Beach on September 25.
Molineaux is expected back in court in Virginia Beach for the other charges Nov. 13.
