CUYAHOGA COUNTY, Ohio — An assistant Cuyahoga County prosecutor tried to solicit sex from someone he thought was a minor but was actually an agent with the Ohio Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, investigators said.
Mahoning County Sheriff’s Office Maj. Jeff Allen said Joseph Bell was arrested Friday after he was snared during an undercover sting operation conducted in late July and early August, the Plain Dealer reported.
Bell worked in the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office child support enforcement division for about 18 months, WFMJ reported. Bell has been fired.
“We have no tolerance for this type of behavior,” Cuyahoga County prosecutor Michael O’Malley said in a statement. “We have been working closely for the past week with the Mahoning County Sheriff’s Office regarding this incident. He will be held accountable just like every other disturbed individual who engages in this type of criminal activity.”
Bell was arrested and charged with importuning, the solicitation for sex acts, a felony, WFMJ reported.
An assistant Cuyahoga County prosecutor was arrested at the Justice Center in downtown Cleveland on Friday on a charge that accuses him of trying to solicit sex from an agent posing online as a child in Mahoning County. https://t.co/gD52sWkxPM
— clevelanddotcom (@clevelanddotcom) August 20, 2021
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