Firefighter charged in teen sex case
WEST CHESTER >> As they drove to the home in East Coventry where the firefighter from the North Coventry Fire Company and his new teenage friend planned to have sex, they shared something they had in common.
The teenager, a 14-yearold from East Caln, told the older man he had met earlier in an online dating site for gay men that he was nervous about what they were about to do. The man, known only as “CJ,” told the youth that he, too, was apprehensive.
“CJ remarked that (he) was also nervous because he could go to jail for what they were prepared to do,” said a criminal complaint filed last week by an investigator with the Chester County District Attorney’s Child Abuse Unit.
“CJ” was right. On Friday, police arrested the firefighter, Carlton Raye Bell Jr., on charges that he had oral and anal sex with the youth at his home on two occasions in September. Bell, who according to a press release issued by the Chester County D.A.’s Office was a battalion chief with Norco Fire Company, also was a volunteer firefighter with the Limerick, Ridge, and Goodwill Pottstown fire companies in Montgomery County.
Bell has been suspended from all four companies, the press release stated.
“The District Attorney’s Office is deeply committed to the protection and safety of children,” District Attorney Deb Ryan said in the release announcing the arrest. “Along with law enforcement throughout this county, we will continue to be vigilant in helping this vulnerable population. We are grateful for the collective efforts of law enforcement in the swift apprehension of the defendant in this case.”
Bell, 27, of Sanatoga Road, is charged with four counts of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with a person under the age of 16, two counts of statutory sexual assault, two counts of indecent assault, and single counts of unlawful contact with a minor and corruption of minors. All the charges are felonies with the exception of the indecent assault count.
After being taken into custody by police, Bell was arraigned Saturday morning by Magisterial District Justice John Bailey of West Whiteland, who set bail at $150,000 cash. Bell failed to post the bail and as taken to Chester County Prison to await a Jan. 23 preliminary hearing before
Magisterial District Judge John Hipple of North Coventry.
According to the criminal complaint filed by Chester County Detective Joseph Walton, the investigation began Dec. 24 when the East Coventry Police Department received a tip from a Child Line report about encounters between a 14-year-old and an unknown adult.
The youth’s name is not included in the complaint.
Walton was able to interview the youth a week later, who said he had met the man, who he knew as “CJ,” on the Grindr dating site, telling the man that he was 15 years old. At Bell’s request, and because of the child’s age, the two continued their conversation on Snap Chat so that the communications would disappear quickly. Later, the child and the defendant exchanged nude photographs and arranged to meet for a sexual encounter, according to the complaint.
On Sept. 15, 2019, Bell drove his Jeep Wrangler to a parking lot near the youth’s home, picked up the child at his home in East Caln and then to his own home in East Coventry. There, Bell and the youth engaged in sexual acts.
On Sept. 19, Bell created a group chat with the victim and two other suspected minors, believed to be 16 and 17 years old, on Snap Chat. That day he again picked up the youth in East Caln, this time with the two other minors from the previous Snap Chat group, who were already in Bell’s car. All four drove to Bell’s home where Bell had sex, first with the youth, then with the other two suspected juveniles.
Investigators were able to track Bell down with the help of the youth, who was first able to locate the neighborhood of the home he had been driven to and ultimately to the house on Sanatoga Road that was registered to Bell. The youth then saw a Facebook page in Bell’s name, and said he recognized him as “CJ.”
When Walton contacted East Coventry Office Nicholas Campitelli with Bell’s photo and address, Campitelli said he knew Bell as a local volunteer firefighter and that he drove a Jeep.
This case is assigned to Assistant District Attorney Emily Provencher from the DA’s Child Abuse Unit. Anyone with information regarding these or other incidents involving the defendant should contact Walton at (610) 344-6866.