People in the community are now asking for justice after saying there is more to the story that what was originally presented in court documents
ALBANY, Ore. – People in Albany are speaking out after 46-year-old Joel Dahl got out on bail for charges of sexual abuse in the second degree and providing liquor to a person under 21.
According to court records, Dahl was arrested on March 10 after an affidavit filed with the Linn County Courthouse shows Dahl allegedly got a 17-year-old girl drunk and sexually assaulted her.
Anna Boyd tells KEZI there is more to the story.
According to Dahl’s estranged wife, Anna Boyd, and confirmed with an affidavit filed by an Albany Police Department officer, Dahl, the victim, and friends of Dahl had taken a trip to the Oregon Coast on March 9 prior to the sexual assault, and Dahl and the victim consumed a significant amount of alcohol during the drive to the coast, the visit, and the drive back. Boyd said things escalated when he returned back to Albany from the coast.
“He had come back, he had seen my daughter and her friends coming out of the house, and I was on the phone with my daughter’s dad just checking in, and I just hear them screaming at Joel because he had began assaulting the kids on the porch,” Boyd said. “I had left to call the police to report it and I just made multiple phone calls.”
According to Boyd, it was during those calls to 911 that some of the kids had left in their vehicles and Joel began chasing them around town.
“Police ended up pulling the kids over and didn’t even pull over Joel, and then Joel had gone home with the kids that he was hanging out with and continued to make them drink and wait there with him until the cops showed up, and they didn’t even end up going there,” Boyd said.
Boyd said she had called police several times, but it was when Joel was not pulled over along with the other kids that Dahl was able to take the 17-year-old victim home and assault her. According to the affidavit, the victim was so drunk at the time of the assault she couldn’t properly put on her shoes or walk without assistance. Boyd said if police had responded to her reports sooner, the sexual assault may have been prevented.
“[The police] came to my house and I told them what happened, and this is where he lives, he is under the influence, he’s on acid, he just assaulted these minors and I would like something to be done,” Boyd said. “Then to my knowledge, he had raped an underage female and that happened after I had reported things, and so that could have been prevented.”
Esley Moon is the father of a 16-year-old boy who was physically attacked by Dahl on that day and chased by vehicle.
“I got a phone call by the Albany Police Department. They said my son was in an altercation with a gentleman by the name of Joel Dahl,” Moon said. “Talked with the police officer who said my son was choked. He was thrown down some stairs and then choked again. With that being said, he chased him and tried to get him at a red light, and then I guess the cops got involved.”
The company has put up signs after it's owner Joel Dahl is facing allegations of sexual abuse.
According to Boyd there were indications of suspicious behavior leading up to the incident. She said Dahl is a recovering alcoholic, but he had started to show signs of drinking again. She also described him as increasingly aggressive.
“The week leading up to this, he had taken minors with him and made them turn their locations off on their phone, and one of those minors was my daughter,” Boyd said. “I had come to the house and there were bottles laying around and it clearly showed someone had been drinking, so I called and made a report on that as well, and there was nothing done.”
After Dahl was arrested, court records show Dahl paid $1,500 of his $15,000 security on March 11, and was released from jail on several conditions including not buying or consuming alcohol, not having any contact with minors except for his own children, and that he must appear at the courthouse for all future appointments. However, new documents show he violated his release agreement on March 14, and he was arrested again on March 15 for violation of a restraining order, tampering with physical evidence, and violation of a release agreement. He was arranged to have an arraignment on March 18, but Boyd said it was called off without notice.
“He had broken the restraining order that I had put on him and contacted me,” Boyd said. “He was in jail this past weekend and going to the court yesterday, I found that they weren’t going to do anything about it.”
After Dahl was let out on bail, and has violated his agreement, many people in the community have voiced their concerns with why he was able to be released, as his prior offenses, including previous sex crimes, date back to 1994. Boyd said she was told by the court his bail was decreased from $50,000 to $15,000 because “he has ties with the community,” many people attributing that to his ownership of the Albany construction company, Dahled Up Construction.
“I was actually really surprised that he was out on the streets due to the fact that he’s had priors relating to sexual assault and assault on adults and other children,” Moon said. “After sitting in that first arraignment and hearing all his past convictions and what he’s getting now, and then have the judge stand there and her say, ‘he did work for the community, and his company’s doing good,’ and to basically use that as a reason to give him bail is beyond ridiculous.”
“It’s just issues with the justice system,” Boyd said. “They’re not consistent. There’s been a lot of things reported over the years and he’s never held accountable.”
Moon said a lot of his concern around Dahl being in public also stems from concerns for his son’s safety.
Dahl was arrested on March 11.
“My child, he was the one that was getting chased with his friends in his car, so therefore, Joel knows what his car looks like” Moon said. “He’s already shown in the past couple of days that he doesn’t really care too much about his agreement for bail, and so my son’s really concerned like, what if he finds him, chases him down, what’s he going to do?”
Dahl’s next court date is scheduled for 1:15 p.m. on March 25, where Boyd, Moon, and others said they want to get justice for the victims and are asking those who are interested to pack the courthouse.
“I’ve watched how he’s affected the children and that’s been the hardest thing to me,” Boyd said. “I’m glad no one’s life was taken and I’m just glad that now the community can see who Joel is.”
“We’re just doing anything and everything to find justice for the children,” Moon said.
KEZI reached out to Joel Dahl as well as the Linn County District Attorney’s office to get more information on the abandonment of Dahl’s March 18 arraignment, but have not heard back.
