Lounge owner, DMS teacher faces obscenity, drug charges
Published 11:12 am Friday, July 1, 2016
A Demopolis resident and a teacher at Demopolis Middle School has been arrested and charged with obscenity related to a lounge in Sumter County.
Jesse Bell Jr., 58, was arrested on Tuesday, June 21, and charged with violating the Alabama’s Anti-Obscenity Act as well as second degree possession of marijuana. The arrest came at the Oak Tree Lounge in Coatopa, which is owned by Bell.
Special Agents with the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency’s (ALEA) State Bureau of Investigation worked with the 17th Judicial Task Force and Alabama Beverage Control in making the arrest.
Bell is a physical education teacher and basketball coach at Demopolis Middle School. “(Bell) has been placed on paid administrative leave. At this time we do not have all the facts. Once we do have the facts the board will make a decision,” said Demopolis City Schools Superintendent Kyle Kallhoff.
The charge for obscenity alleges that Bell allowed nude dancing at his establishment.
Bell was placed in the Sumter County Jail and bond set at $10,000.