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Former Md. coach pleads not guilty to federal child porn charges

By Megan Cloherty

WASHINGTON — The former Charles County coach who had been indicted on dozens of state charges of child sex abuse pleaded not guilty to federal child porn charges Tuesday.

Carlos Bell, a former track coach in Charles County, is accused of assaulting dozens of students, who ranged in age from 11 to 17, and of recording some of those assaults on his cellphone over a nearly two-year period between May 2015 and June 2017. Some of the assaults took place on school grounds, according to an indictment.

Bell was indicted last month on 206 charges in the sex abuse of 42 victims.

Last week, a grand jury handed up a 12-count indictment for making the child porn images between 2014 and 2016. The charges include at least 10 victims. Investigators have said there could be more victims in the case.

On Tuesday, Bell pleaded not guilty to the federal child porn charges and requested a jury trial.

Bell was a coach at various Charles County schools between October 2014 and December 2016. He was also a teaching assistant at Benjamin Stoddert Middle School, where many of the alleged crimes took place.

WTOP’s Sarah Beth Hensley contributed to this report from Washington.

Mom whose child was victim of Carlos Bell calls for changes at schools

By Kate Ryan
HYATTSVILLE, Md. — The mother of a Charles County Public School student said that her child was victimized by Carlos Bell — the former teacher's aide charged with 206 counts of child sexual abuse, sexual assault and attempted transfer of HIV— and she called for better screening and improved training by schools. "It is with grief that I stand by my child's side through this horrific series of events," the woman told reporters Friday. She spoke on the condition that her name and image would not be used and that her voice would be altered.
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