Alan Gell charged with statutory rape

Man victimized in tainted murder trial is accused of 31 sex offenses with girl, 15

Late on Wednesday morning in the Bertie County Courthouse, Alan Gell stood at the same table where he was twice tried for murder.

District Court Judge Thomas Newbern interrupted the humdrum of traffic court to explain to Gell that he faced up to life in prison for each of 14 charges of statutory rape, more time for each charge of indecent liberties with a minor, and still more for possession of cocaine. Gell, dressed in a mint green shirt and blue jeans, mouthed a few words to his wife, who sat in the gallery, dressed almost identically to her new husband.

Gell then walked silently in handcuffs to a sheriff's vehicle. He was taken to the Bertie-Martin Regional Jail and placed in solitary confinement. That, too, was a familiar place; he had spent two years there before his first murder trial, which landed him on death row, wrongly convicted.

Gell had been arrested earlier Wednesday and charged with 31 sex offenses against a minor, a former girlfriend who was 15 at the time. The girl, now 16, is pregnant, perhaps with Gell's child. The girl's father also was charged with having sex with her -- and with her older sister.

The sex case would, by itself, capture the spotlight in Bertie County, tucked in the northeast corner of the state. But with Gell's notoriety, the glare is brighter.

Gell, 31, spent nine years behind bars, half of it on death row, for the April 1995 murder of Allen Ray Jenkins, a retired truck driver. He was awarded a new trial in 2002 because prosecutors withheld evidence showing he was in jail when the murder occurred. The prosecutors also withheld tapes of two 15-year-old girls, their key witnesses, saying they had to make up a story.

Gell, whose case has been covered extensively in The News & Observer, was tried again in February 2004 and was quickly acquitted by a Bertie County jury.

Once freed, Gell crusaded against the death penalty and was a vocal critic of the criminal justice system. His case led to major changes in state law, including a mandate for prosecutors to share their investigative files with defendants before all felony trials. His case drew statewide and national attention, including appearances on "Larry King Live" and BBC World Service in December.

Gell became a friend of the girl's family last summer and regularly went motorcycle riding with the girl's parents.

According to documents filed by the State Bureau of Investigation, Gell had sex with the girl in his home about once a week from late August until December. Gell was a frequent visitor at the family's home, and e-mail messages between Gell and the girl revealed a strong emotional relationship, the SBI said.

The victim's mother learned in December that her daughter was pregnant. Gates County Sheriff Edward E. Webb started an investigation focusing on the girl's father, who was suspected of having sex with the girl and her sister, who was 16 at the time, for several years.

Gell did not know of the girl's father's alleged sexual abuse of his daughters, Webb said.

Webb and District Attorney Valerie Asbell declined to say whether Gell or the girl's father impregnated her. She is about 24 weeks pregnant.

The girl's father was arrested Wednesday afternoon on 21 charges of rape and indecent liberties and held with bail set at $315,000, according to Gates Clerk of Court Nell Wiggins. He is charged with having sex with his two oldest daughters.

The News & Observer is withholding the identity of the girl and her father because of the newspaper's policy not to identify victims of sex crimes.