HIV-Positive Maryland Coach Admits To Sexually Abusing 42 Boys

CHARLES COUNTY, MD — An HIV-positive man who formerly a coached a boy’s track team and worked as a teacher's aide has admitted he sexually abused dozens of underage boys, officials in Charles County, Maryland, have said. Carlos Deangelo Bell, 30, of Waldorf, pleaded guilty Friday to 27 charges, including sex offenses, filming child pornograpy and attempted transmission of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

Bell had been charged with more than 200 counts. Investigators have said he video recorded assaults on 42 victims, ages 11 to 17, over a two-year period. He will be sentenced to no more than 190 years in prison in March, according to the plea agreement. He also is expected to plead guilty to federal pornography charges, Charles County’s state’s attorney Tony Covington said.

He could face additional charges, depending on whether Maryland State Police discover more evidence on a cellphone investigators are working to unlock, authorities said. Police began investigating Bell in December 2016 after a parent reported suspicious messages on her son’s cellphone.

A search warrant was obtained and computers and cellphones were seized from Bell’s home in Waldorf. Even when he knew he was under investigation, Bell obtained additional electronic devices and sexually assaulted eight boys between December and June 2016, WTOP-TV reported.

Covington said the plea agreement, reached with the support of the victims and their parents, spares them the trauma of a public trial. The plea agreement means Bell will spend the rest of his life in prison, WSUA-TV reported.

"There is no death penalty in Maryland anymore," Covington said. "There's not a life without parole for these types of charges. So, we had to have enough charges where realistically, if he's sentenced to the max under this agreement, 190 years, the likelihood is that he will be in jail for the rest of his life."

At a news conference Friday, Charles County Sheriff Troy Berry said the case was one of the worst he had seen in the 25 years he has worked in the county.

“Carlos Bell was in a position of trust,” Berry said. “And he misused that to violate the most vulnerable people in our community, our children.”

Once they were aware of the investigation, Charles County Public Schools officials immediately removed Bell from his jobs as an instructional assistant at Benjamin Stoddert Middle School and the indoor track coach at La Plata High School. He was fired in January 2017.

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