Man told pastors he had ‘inappropriate interactions’ with children, found guilty
A Leavenworth County jury found a Basehor man guilty Tuesday of two counts of aggravated indecent liberties with a child.
Charles S. Bell, 47, was charged in September 2024 after admitting to two Johnson County pastors that he had “inappropriate interactions with children,” Leavenworth County Attorney Todd Thompson said in a press release Wednesday.
Bell was charged with two counts of aggravated indecent liberties with a child, according to a Leavenworth County court document. One charge involves a child under 14 and the other involves a child between the ages of 14 and 16.
In September 2023, Leavenworth County sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to an area high school to investigate “a report of past sexual abuse involving a juvenile student,” according to the press release.
In an email to The Star, Thompson declined to release the name of the high school or the church to protect the privacy of witnesses and victims.
The press release says the student revealed Bell had been abusing them “over several years.”
Bell would “insert his head into the shower” while the student was undressed, reach into their pants “and touch them inappropriately” and put his hands in the student’s shirt “to touch their chest” while they were asleep, according to the press release.
Months later, in January 2024, a Lenexa police detective notified investigators in Leavenworth County that they received a Department of Children and Families hotline report involving Bell.
Two Johnson County pastors submitted the report, which involved at least one child, after Bell allegedly told the pair after a December 2023 church service that he had “inappropriate interactions” with at least one child, according to the press release.
When the pastors told Bell they would report what he was telling them, Bell continued discussing the matter.
During the litigation of the case, Thompson said an issue arose as to whether the pastors’ testimony would be allowed under a Kansas statute that allows penitential communication between religious leaders and church-goers to remain private.
The pastors’ testimony was eventually allowed in a trial that began on Sept. 22 and lasted one and a half days, according to the press release.
In the press release, Thompson said penitential communication privilege is not something he often/ sees in court. Bell’s case is the first he’s seen litigated.
“While the defendant may have wanted to repent, we’re grateful to the pastors for not giving him a pass for his actions,” Thompson said.
Bell is set to appear for a sentencing hearing in Leavenworth County court on Nov. 14, according to court documents.
This story was originally published September 24, 2025 at 6:26 PM.
