A Jefferson County commissioner was arrested on sexual abuse charges Friday.
Eric Bell, 37, of Charles Town, is charged with sexual abuse by a person in a position of trust, possession of child pornography, and sending obscene material to a minor, according to Sgt. W.R. Garrett, who investigates crimes against children in the Eastern Panhandle.
The victim was a 16-year-old boy. Bell was a "friend of the family," Garrett said.
Garrett said DHHR's Child Protective Services alerted police.
The trooper said the teenager was not removed from the home because the parents did not appear to be complicit in the abuse. He said the teen's parents were "taken aback" when he informed them of the allegations.
Garrett said he interviewed the teenager at the Martinsburg Child Advocacy Center.