Former Gettysburg mayor arrested on child sex abuse charges weeks after resignation
A former Pennsylvania mayor is facing child sex offense charges two weeks after resigning his position after being in office for less than a month after allegedly grooming a boy while volunteering in the theater community.
Chad Alan-Carr resigned just two weeks into his term as mayor of Gettysburg in what he described as personal matters unrelated to city business.
Carr, 48, is charged with felony counts of sexual abuse of children and criminal solicitation to commit sexual abuse of children and a misdemeanor count of corruption of minors, according to court records.
Between 2011 and 2013, Carr solicited "inappropriate material" from at least one teen boy, Adams County District Attorney Brian Sinnett said Friday.
"We are alleging and believe to be true that Chad-Alan Carr had groomed this particular individual from a time even before they were 16 years old," Sinnett said during a news conference.
Carr allegedly groomed the boy and enticed him into sharing nude video and photo images. Other charges could not have been filed against Carr because the statute of limitations had already run out, Sinnett said.
Carr's attorney, John Abom, declined to comment on their case to Fox News Digital.
Sinnett noted that investigators interviewed several other witnesses who provided reports of alleged "inappropriate conduct" by Carr. However, that alleged conduct did not warrant criminal charges, he said.
At the time of Carr's alleged offenses, he was a volunteer at Gettysburg High School. He was also executive director of the Gettysburg Community Theater, authorities said.
The teen boy was involved in the theater community at a young age. Carr treated the victim differently from other students during their sophomore and junior years of high school, authorities said, giving him lots of attention and treating him kindly.
The victim, now an adult, told investigators that he had known Carr for several years. He began communicating with Carr at 16 on Facebook Messenger and Skype, Fox 43 reported.
At some point, the conversations turned sexual in nature and lasted until the boy was 17, the news outlet said.
Carr resigned as mayor this month, but he allegedly admitted to a friend that the allegations were true before leaving office, the news report said.
Carr is being held on $100,000 bail. His next court appearance is scheduled on March 20.