KENT CITY, Mich. – An elderly substitute teacher faces multiple criminal sexual conduct charges after he allegedly groped several young female students on his first day at Kent City Elementary school.

John Ira Dalton, 67, faces four counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct stemming from his one day substitute teaching at Kent City Elementary Oct. 21, when school officials and another staffer allege he touched four girls inappropriately over their clothes, WOOD TV reports.

Kent City Community Schools Superintendent Mike Weiler told the news station a staff member reported odd behavior between Dalton and a student in the hallway around 10:30 a.m. and notified school officials.

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“He was out in the hallway with another student (a girl),” Weiler said. “And something looked amiss to the staff person, so they reported it.”

“We approached the girls, we went into the classroom after this individual was removed from the building, and asked if there was anything that morning that was out of the ordinary, and three girls came forward at that time,” Weiler said.

One of the alleged victims, who were ages 10 and 11, told detectives Dalton “squeezed her butt,” while another said he touched her “in the area of her butt and vagina” while “comforting her because she had a ‘wiggly’ tooth,” according to court records cited by the news site.

A third student said Dalton “touched her on her butt” at his desk.

“When detectives interviewed Dalton a week later, he admitted touching more than one student that day, but denied touching their private parts and denied it was for a sexual purpose, according to court records” obtained by Wood TV.

Kent County Assistant Prosecutor Travis Earley offered Dalton a plea deal before his preliminary examination Wednesday that would reduce the charges to a single count of second-degree criminal sexual conduct if he pleads guilty. The deal would protect the alleged victims from testifying at a trail, Mlive.com reports.

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Dalton, of Newaygo, waived his preliminary examination and pleaded not guilty Wednesday. He is reportedly considering the plea bargain and has until his next court appearance in April to decide. If convicted, he could face up to 15 years in prison, according to Fox 17.

Dalton turned himself in to police earlier this month and was later released on a $20,000 bond with orders not to contact the alleged victims. He was employed by Professional Educational Service Group at the time of the alleged incidents, but was fired after the allegations surfaced.

He has no criminal record and was described by a neighbor as a good, married man. The neighbor told WOOD TV she refused to believe he’s guilty of the charges.

Parents complained online that Kent City Elementary officials did not notify parents about the substitute’s alleged misdeeds last October.

“My daughter is a fourth grade student at this school. The school hasn’t not notified any parents or acknowledged anything has happened. Many parents wouldn’t have known anything had it not been for this news broadcast,” Rebekah Schragg wrote. “I am disappointed the school hasn’t done more to support these girls or provide any statement.”

Weiler told WOOD the district sent letters home to parents of students in the one classroom Dalton supervised before he was removed from the school.

“That was the only place this individual was during the morning, and part of our reason on that was to protect the children who have allegedly been inappropriately touched so that it would not become a bigger issue in the community,” Weiler said. “We were trying to protect their interests at that time and I think that we were successful in doing that.”

Other discussing the incident on the WOOD TV site raised doubts about the girls’ allegations, but Weiler told the station he has no doubt they’re telling the truth.

“I don’t think anything here was fabricated,” he said, adding that the school has provided the alleged victims with social workers and they’ve returned to school. “I think these girls came forward on their own, they’re 5th-graders, and they told their stories to the appropriate officials.”