By PAVEL BAILEY
Tribune Staff Reporter
pbailey@tribunemedia.net
A REPEAT child molester was sentenced to 13 years in prison yesterday for having sex with a nine-year-old boy he lured into his home shortly after being released from prison for raping a five-year-old boy.
Dwight Jason Bell, 58, was sentenced for unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor of the same sex before Justice Jeannine Weech-Gomez.
Bell had sex with the boy at his home on Market Street and Laird Street in New Providence on September 7, 2024.
The boy had been picking fruit with his siblings before Bell lured him into the home.
After the child’s mother searched for him and found him in Bell’s yard, the boy told her he had been molested.
Bell pleaded guilty to the charge last October.
Prosecutor Desiree Ferguson previously noted that Bell had a prior child molestation conviction involving a five-year-old victim.
Bell was sentenced to nine years and five months in prison for raping the five-year-old boy on Christmas Day 2014.
Ms Ferguson said his latest offence happened shortly after his release from prison.
Ms Ferguson told the court that Bell told authorities he had “a weakness for young boys”.
Justice Weech-Gomez previously said that if Bell had received proper psychiatric care while in prison for the first offence, he might not have returned before the court.
As part of Bell’s latest sentence, he must receive psychiatric assistance in prison. He will also be added to the sexual offenders registry.
Nathan Smith represented Bell.
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