Another man charged in Morgan County child sex crime case
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Another man has been charged in a child sex crime case in Morgan County.
Jack Chick, 19, of Eldon, was charged on Wednesday with three counts of patronizing a sexual performance by a child and one count of fourth-degree child molestation. He was detained on May 14, but was released at the scene. A warrant was issued on Wednesday and a $50,000 bond was set.
Last week, 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. He appeared in court on Tuesday and pleaded not guilty. A bond appearance hearing is scheduled for 9 a.m. Tuesday, June 3.
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. She appeared in court on Tuesday and also pleaded not guilty. She has a hearing scheduled for 9 a.m. Tuesday.
The new probable cause statement alleges that Chick admitted to multiple people -- including law enforcement -- of participating in a sexual assault of a child with another man and also watched one of the assaults occur. He also allegedly routinely messaged children as young as 13 on the social media application Discord, the statement says.
Court documents in previous reporting say while law enforcement was at the Bell’s residence, 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.
Chick also allegedly told law enforcement that he wanted to obtain legal guardianship of the youth to continue more sexual encounters, the statement says.
