Morgan County man charged with various child sex crimes
Ryan Shiner
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
A Morgan County man has been charged with several felonies after he allegedly admitted to child sex crimes to law enforcement.
Matthew Bell, 24, of Rocky Mount, was charged with four counts of sexually exploiting a minor, five counts of child porn possession and four counts of second-degree sodomy. He is being held at the Morgan County Jail on a $250,000 bond. A court date has not been set.
Marie Bell, 50, of Rocky Mount, was charged with first-degree endangering the welfare of a child. She is being held at the Morgan County Jail on a $50,000 bond. A court date has not been set. She is accused of knowing about the alleged assaults.
The probable cause statement says that Morgan County sheriff’s deputies were called to a residence about an assault that was not in progress. Matthew Bell allegedly said that he was assaulted after getting pushed by another individual, the statement says.
Deputies wrote that they were previously notified about the residence being an unsafe condition for a youth. Marie Bell allegedly claimed that Matt Bell and a girl were “in a relationship.”
The youth and Matthew Bell allegedly gave conflicting statements about their living situation before Bell admitted to having sex with the child, the statement says. Bell allegedly repeatedly told deputies that it was “consensual.”
Bell also had child porn saved from the youth on his SnapChat account and showed it to law enforcement, the statement says.