A Maryland teacher's aide and coach has been indicted on 206-counts; a list that includes 97 counts of child pornography and five accounts of attempted transfer of HIV.
Carlos Bell, 30, was arrested in June, and in July authorities announced a 119-count indictment charging him with abusing dozens of school boys, but further investigation drastically increased the counts. On Monday, that number rose to 206 and the number of victims increased from 24 to 42, Fox News reported.
Bell, who is HIV-positive, was a school aide and track coach at a middle school in Waldorf, Maryland.
The Charles County State's Attorney's Office said the victims ranged in age from 11 to 17 years old, and that the abuse occurred during a two year time frame from May of 2015 to June of 2017.
State officials also said in a statement that they are not aware of any of Bell's alleged victims testing positive for HIV.
After Bell was arrested in July, Charles County Schools superintendent Kimberly Hill said officials were stunned by the indictment, according to the Baltimore Sun.
“These charges are horrific and I share in the disgust and outrage that our community is feeling,” Hill said
The principal at the school where Bell worked was re-assigned, but officials claim that when the suspect was hired, he had no criminal record and was not listed on any sex abuser registry.
The district was notified when a parent complained to police about inappropriate messages that Bell was sending to her child.
After he was fired, he still showed up at a track meet, and later officials took out a restraining order on him.
Searches on his work computers did not result in anything suspicious, but authorities found a cache of child pornography on his home computer.
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Bell is jailed without bond awaiting trial, which is scheduled for January.
The state is seeking a life sentence in the case upon conviction.
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