Willie Lee Bell, Jr. was the youth minister at the United Methodist Church of North Texas up until April 5, 2016.
He was caught in the act molesting a six-year-old boy behind an apartment complex in Dallas. Bystanders beat him up while trying to stop the abuse. Bell has also been connected to two more molestation claims at different apartment complexes in the city.
Unlike many molestation cases, Bell did not know these children. He lured them away while they were playing and took them to a more private space to commit the crime. He made sure to avoid molesting boys at his church since they were more likely to recognize him if the police asked about it later.
The mother of the boy who was molested was thankful that Bell was stopped. The boy had been playing outside when Bell lured him away to a more secluded location at the complex.
There have not been any cases found of boys in the church being molested, but many are wondering how Bell became the youth minister in the first place. Unfortunately, church workers and volunteers are not required to have background checks.
If the church had done a background check, they would’ve found that Bell was charged with showing pornography to minors in Tennessee.
Bell had also tried to establish himself as a mentor at one of the local elementary schools. He was unsuccessful at this effort. The elementary school sent out emails to the parents saying the Bell had been at the school to talk about a mentorship program, but he was never left alone with any of the students.
Worried parents are aptly concerned about this case. Many are wondering who they can trust now that someone within the church has been arrested.
Featured image by Riley Kaminer via flickr, available under Creative Commons 2.0 license.
