GREENFIELD — A woman told police she invited a male acquaintance into her Greenfield home earlier this year after he told her “he needed a friend to talk to.” Then, he raped her while they were alone together, she reported, according to court documents.
Now, the suspect — 35-year-old Brian Bell of Knightstown — is being held in the Hancock County Jail on a $20,000 cash bond. He faces two Level 3 felony counts of rape, records show.
The woman told police Bell reached out to her several times in late April, saying he needed someone to talk to about troubles he was having in his personal life.
As they talked, Bell forced himself on the woman despite her repeatedly resisting his advances, she told police, according to court documents.
The woman turned over copies of text messages she’d exchanged with Bell after the incident.
The notes show the woman confronting Bell about his actions and accusing him of raping her, to which Bell apologizes and begs her not to go to police, court documents state.
The woman told police she’d known Bell for several years through a church she attended as a child. She considered him a friend.
In April, she received several texts and social media messages from Bell. He’d asked if he could come to her house to talk, saying that he needed to be comforted, court documents state.
The woman allowed Bell to come into her home. He sat on her couch and laid across her lap, even though she asked him not to and told him he was making her uncomfortable, court documents state.
She tried several times to get away from him, but Bell kept advancing, she told police. He tried to kiss her and groped her, she reported, according to court documents.
Then he forced himself on her, she told police, according to court documents.
He left the home a short while later.
The woman sent Bell several text messages in the days that followed the alleged assault, in which she confronted him about the incident, court documents state.
“You raped me,” she wrote in one text, according to court documents. “I said no and you kept going. Didn’t even seem sorry about it at all.”
In response, Bell apologized and asked the woman not to tell his family or police what happened, court documents state. He told the woman he was drunk and should never have driven to her home that night, court documents state.
Bell was arrested over the weekend and made his first court appearance Monday, records show.
He pleaded not guilty to the allegations. He remained in the Hancock County Jail at press time.