A former Maryland school aide and track coach may have infected 42 boys with the HIV virus that causes AIDS.
Police arrested Carlos Bell, 30, and charged him with sexually assaulting 42 boys between May 2015 and June 2017.
Bell was taken into custody in July and charged with possession of child porn on his home computer. Police began investigating Bell in December after a parent found inappropriate text messages on her son’s cell phone.
Bell was indicted on 206 counts of sexually assaulting 28 identified victims and 14 unidentified victims, according to WJLA.
Police say the assaults happened on school property, at Bell’s home and other locations.
The boys were students at Benjamin Stoddert Middle School and La Plata High School where Bell was a former teacher’s aide and track coach.
Police obtained cell phone video of Bell allegedly having sex with a boy inside a classroom at Benjamin Stoddert Middle School, according to NBC.
Bell was also employed at McDonough High School in Pomfret and J.P. Ryon Elementary in Waldorf, according to the NY Daily News.
“[T]hese allegations are horrifying,” Charles County Superintendent Kimberly Hill previously said in a statement. “To our parents and our community, who put their faith and trust in us to safeguard their children, I apologize on behalf of Charles County Public Schools.”
Bell is no longer employed by the Charles County Public School system.
In unrelated news, a new California law lowers the penalty for knowingly infecting others with the HIV virus from a felony to a misdemeanor. Intentionally transmitting the HIV virus is punishable by a maximum of 6 months in jail.
The California bill was introduced by homosexual senator Scott Weiner. The bill which was signed into law by Gov. Jerry Brown on Oct. 6 also allows HIV positive people to donate blood in California.
The California HIV law goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2018.
