Former St. Patrick’s Athletic Director transported to Marion County on new child molestation charge, released on $10,000 bail

Staff report

Updated on March 27 with information from Marion County Sheriff’s Office

MARION COUNTY, Fla. – Christopher Charles Chell, 47, of Alachua, who was recently arrested and charged with lewd or lascivious molestation of a child under 12 in Marion County, was transported to the Marion County Jail on March 24 and released early this morning on $10,000 bail.

The Marion County Sheriff’s Deputy who completed the arrest affidavit mainly relied on information provide by the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office, which is detailed in this article. However, the affidavit includes additional information, including a statement from the victim that when he got out of Chell’s car after the drive back from Ocala, he felt like he “got away from something”; he added that this was the only incident and that he and Chell had never discussed it, although he said he felt “uneasy” and “scared” when he was around Chell after the incident.

Given that the victim said the incident occurred sometime in October 2022 but he couldn’t remember the exact date, the MCSO Deputy spoke with the Athletic Director of Meadowbrook Academy in Ocala, which hosts an annual flag football tournament in October; the deputy learned that the 5th/6th-grade flag football team from St. Patrick’s had played games at Meadowbrook on October 3, 10, 17, and 18 in 2022, so “a reasonable person would believe this incident occurred between the Meadowbrook Church facility (4741 SW 20th Street, Ocala) and Alachua County.” Since the county line is about 20 minutes from Meadowbrook and the victim said the sexual abuse occurred about 10 minutes into the drive, “a reasonable person would conclude this incident occurred within Marion County.”

The deputy wrote that he and a detective went to Chell’s house on March 13 to interview him, but Chell said he would only speak after consulting with his attorney. The deputy wrote that he contacted Chell’s attorney, who asked for more information about the case and said he would consult with his client; the attorney reportedly told the deputy that Chell “would only travel to Ocala to provide a statement with a ‘guarantee’ of an arrest not being made.” The deputy wrote, “I advised [the attorney] I could NOT make this ‘guarantee’ to them.”

[Editor’s note: the warrant did not include the word “NOT,” but in response to a request from Alachua Chronicle, Marion County Sheriff’s Office said that was a typo and the word “NOT” should be in that sentence.]

The deputy recommended that Chell be held without bond, “based on the level and nature of the charges.” Judge Lori Cotton, who signed the arrest warrant, also recommended that he be held without bond. However, bail was set at $10,000 at Chell’s First Appearance hearing (the name of the judge is currently unavailable), and he was released early this morning.

Articles about arrests are based on reports from law enforcement agencies. The charges listed are taken from the arrest report and/or court records and are only accusations. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.