MOUNTAIN HOME, Idaho — A convicted sex offender is in custody after police say he repeatedly sexually assaulted an underage girl.
Isaiah Bell, 24, was arrested Wednesday on 12 counts of rape.
According to Mountain Home Police, Bell had met up with a 14-year-old girl. Investigators conducted interviews and determined that the suspect had sex with the girl 12 times between June and September.
Bell is already a convicted sex offender, stemming from a 2015 conviction in Bannock County for lewd conduct with a child under 16. Bell was also charged with forcible rape in 2015, also in Bannock County, but the charge was dismissed by prosecutors before trial.
Court records indicate he was sentenced to prison for the lewd conduct and a separate burglary conviction. Idaho Department of Correction spokesman Jeff Ray told KTVB that Bell was paroled in April 2018, but stopped corresponding with his parole officer Aug. 27, 2019, leading IDOC to classify him as a fugitive.
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In addition to the dozen rape charges in the Mountain Home case, Bell is also being held in the Elmore County Jail on charges of violating his parole and failing to register as a sex offender.
He is due to appear in court Thursday afternoon. If convicted, he could face up to life in prison.
