Binghampton man sentenced to 30 years after girl discloses rape since age 10

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WMC) - A Binghampton man was sentenced to 30 years in prison without parole on Thursday after he admitted to sexually abusing a young girl for the past three to four years, said Shelby County District Attorney Amy Weirich.

Dedrick Bell, 37, pled guilty in Criminal Court to rape of a child — a felony charge.

He was arrested in July of last year when the 13-year-old told her mother that Bell had been sexually assaulting her since the age of 10.

When confronted by the child’s mother, Bell admitted that he had been abusing the girl in various locations around the house, and sometimes in the backyard or in the car when the mother was not home.

During his interview, Bell told police the assaults had been happening for the last three or four years.

The case was handled by Assistant District Attorney Jermal Blanchard of the District Attorney’s Special Victims Unit (SVU), which prosecutes cases of child sexual abuse and severe physical abuse of children, elder abuse and vulnerable adult abuse.

Bell has been charged with three counts of rape of a child, one count of incest, and one count of rape. All are felony charges.

Bell’s next court date is Sept. 9.

Click here to sign up for our newsletter!

Click here to report a spelling or grammar error. Please include the headline.