MARION COUNTY, Fla. — A former youth sports coach is facing charges after an underage victim reported being inappropriately touched while being driven home by the suspect, the Marion County Sheriff’s Office announced Wednesday.

The sheriff’s office said Christopher Chell, 44, was extradited to the Marion County Jail from Alachua County Monday on a warrant for lewd and lascivious molestation on a victim under 12 years old.

On Feb. 10, 2025, officials said deputies with the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office responded to a report of a sexual battery.

Deputies located a juvenile victim who reported that Chell sexually assaulted him while giving him a ride home from a flag football game, police said. The victim said the incident happened in October 2022.

ACSO detectives determined the crime had happened in Marion County, prompting MCSO to take over the investigation.

Investigators learned that Chell had been arrested in 2024 by the Gainesville Police Department for multiple counts of lewd and lascivious molestation, but the charges dropped to felony battery, an arrest affidavit shows. Chell pleaded guilty to the felony battery charge and was sentenced to 60 months of probation in September 2024, evading jail time.

“It is apparent that Christopher [Chell] was using his position in the school to commit sex crimes on young children,” Detective Adkins wrote in the affidavit.

Investigators believe Chell may have victimized other children and encouraged anyone with information about other potential victims to come forward by calling 352-368-3534.

Chell has since been released on bond, pending trial.