SUMNER — Former Charleston High School math teacher and basketball coach Willie Bell III has been sentenced to five years with the Mississippi Department of Corrections for fondling a female student at the school while he was employed there.
During sentencing proceedings May 23 at the Tallahatchie County Courthouse here, Circuit Judge Jimmy McClure ordered that Bell serve one year imprisonment, followed by one year in MDOC’s Intensive Supervision House Arrest Program.
If Bell, 28, successfully completes intensive supervision, McClure’s order provides that the rest of his sentence will be suspended.
Bell then would be placed on post-release supervision for three years, during which time he would be required to report regularly to an MDOC probation officer.
McClure’s order also dictates that Bell pay a $1,000 fine, $1,000 in restitution to the Mississippi Children’s Trust Fund, a $100 fee to the Crime Victim Compensation Fund and unspecified court costs. The payments are to be made at the rate of $100 per month starting 60 days after his release from prison.
He also was ordered to have no contact with the victim or the victim’s family during the time of his sentence.
Bell, who had been indicted April 24, 2018, on two counts of sexual battery and one count of fondling, struck a deal with prosecutors that led to his April 2, 2019, plea of guilty to the fondling charge. Both sexual battery charges were remanded to court files.
He faced a maximum sentence of 15 years imprisonment and a $5,000 fine for the fondling offense. The minimum penalty was two years imprisonment and/or a $1,000 fine. McClure stuck by the terms of the agreement worked out between the district attorney’s office and Bell’s defense team.
Bell, of 1111 Pecan Blvd., Jackson, had been charged with engaging in sexual relations with a female student at CHS who was under the age of 18 at the time of the Nov. 28, 2017, offense.
He was in his second year of employment as the Algebra I teacher and head coach of the boys varsity basketball team at CHS. When the accusations started coming to light, Bell resigned those positions effective Jan. 10, 2018.
The charges against Bell were investigated by the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation and the Tallahatchie County Sheriff’s Office, leading to the issuance of a warrant for his arrest on Feb. 15, 2018.
At a May 17, 2018, pretrial hearing, Bell waived arraignment and pleaded not guilty.
Before coming to Charleston, the Jackson native had taught in the Jackson, Hattiesburg and Raymond public schools.
Without addressing Bell’s case specifically, Jean Cook, director of public relations for the Mississippi Department of Education, said Thursday that state policy on educators convicted of felonies is very straightforward.
“State law does require that for any licensed educator who is convicted of a sex offense, his license is immediately revoked,” Cook noted.
