Dothan teacher facing new sex charge

A Dothan teacher arrested last week on a sex crime charge involving a student now faces at least one additional charge for allegedly molesting the same 16-year-old male student.

Dothan police investigators talked about some of the evidence in their case against 30-year-old Calvin Bell-Tharpe at a bond reduction hearing Monday.

Attorney Shaun McGhee, who represents Bell-Tharpe, asked the court to reduce his client’s current $175,000 bond. Dothan police arrested Bell-Tharpe on Friday on a charge based on a recently enacted law of a school employee having sex with a student.

District Court Judge Benjamin Lewis denied Bell-Tharpe's bond reduction request late Monday afternoon.

McGhee said his client is not a flight risk, had nearly a dozen relatives who attended the hearing.

“He actually has no ties to anywhere outside this county,” McGhee said. “He has no prior infractions with the law, not even a speeding ticket.”

McGhee asked the court to reduce the bond in the case to a “reasonable amount.”

“It’s not a violent type of crime,” McGhee said. “We just want a fair amount set.” 

Houston County District Attorney Doug Valeska said a second charge of misdemeanor sexual misconduct will be filed against Bell-Tharpe by detectives on Tuesday.

“A teacher should know not to have contact or give rides to students,” Valeska said. “We don’t think the bond is excessive. Children must be protected at all cost.”

Dothan police Investigator Reyna Johnson said the alleged victim in the case was a 16-year-old boy who was a student at Northview.

Johnson said the allegations stem from the victim being picked up twice and taken to a home that belonged to a relative of Bell-Tharpe. She said on the first occasion the two ate dinner together. Johnson said the offenses occurred on the second occasion, after the victim had apparently fallen asleep on a couch while watching television.

“He was asleep, and it woke him up,” Johnson said. “He (Bell-Tharpe) then invited him back to the bedroom in the house for sex. He says he did not consent to it, that he felt pressured or forced to do it.”

Johnson said the sexual assault reportedly lasted anywhere from a few minutes up to an hour.

Valeska said prosecutors planned to take the case to a Houston County grand jury this week. Johnson also testified of a revealing Facebook conversation between Bell-Tharpe and the student that included such phrases as “Be real pretty boy.” She also testified Bell-Tharpe allegedly sought pictures of the student through the Facebook conversation.

Johnson also said police are investigating Bell-Tharpe’s cell phone usage.

“He sent a picture of graphic nature by cell phone to the victim,” Johnson said.

Johnson said during cross examination by McGhee that police did not find out about the allegations until May. But she said there had been an ongoing internal investigation by the school since November 2010. She acknowledged Bell-Tharpe remained employed as a teacher during the school’s investigation.

Johnson said the offenses allegedly happened between Halloween and Thanksgiving of 2010.

Dothan Police Sgt. Doug MaGill testified that Bell-Tharpe admitted to sending the graphic cell phone image by mistake. MaGill said Bell-Tharpe told police he meant to send the image to his girlfriend.

“Mr. Bell-Tharpe denied taking him to any house, but had driven him to get food, and given him a ride home,” MaGill said.

MaGill said police acquired a search warrant for Bell-Tharpe’s Denton Road home where they seized four computers and four cell phones.

According to the Northview High website, Bell-Tharpe has been a Dothan educator for five years, since January 2006. The school’s website also said Bell-Tharpe works as an art teacher and is the head tennis coach for the school. The website also said Bell-Tharpe graduated from Dothan High School and later earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Troy University.