Syracuse, N. Northern District Court of New York earlier this month. Thomas Bell, 58, of Tanner Road in the town of Onondaga, has been charged with coercion or enticement of a person under 18 for sex, court documents state. Bell was arrested in March. He was initially sent to city court and charged with disseminating indecent material to a child, patronizing a prostitute and endangering the welfare of a child.
Bell was accused of texting an undercover officer who he believed was a year-old girl, Sgt. Tom Connellan said in March. He reportedly asked her to bring a 6-year-old to have sex with him as well.
A federal complaint filed Oct. A man unidentified in court papers said he began receiving text messages on his cell phone from someone requesting to have sex with a 6-year-old girl. The man let a year-old use his phone, court documents state, leading to more requests for sex with minors. The man took the phone back and began pretending to be a year-old named "Keema. Someone who matched later descriptions of Bell showed up but left when he did not see the girl.
After that, the man turned the phone over to police. A federal officer pretended to be "Keema," and Bell continued to solicit sex with the girl and her invented 6-year-old sister. Bell sent several other graphic photos and text messages. The undercover officer set up a meeting at a Rite Aid on W. Onondaga Street for March A female Syracuse police officer was chosen to "pretend to be 'Keema,'" the complaint states. Bell fled when he saw a police car at the Rite-Aid.
But police chased him and he was arrested on Midland Avenue. Police then went to Bell's house, where they met his wife. She agreed to let them search the computers and DVDs in the house. Several had titles "indicative of child pornography," federal prosecutors said. If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation.
