Third teen accuses Fayetteville teacher of sex abuse

The Youth Services Division of the Fayetteville Police Department charged Bradley Norman Dent, 46, of 7006 Lamure Drive, with five counts each of statutory sex offense and indecent liberties with a child. He was being held in the Cumberland County jail under a $500,000 bond.

Police said the crimes were alleged to have occurred between February and June 2010 with a 15-year-old.

Dent, a fourth-grade teacher at Long Hill Elementary School, was arrested in September after the parents of another 15-year-old reported that Dent forced their son to have sexual contact with him last spring while working as a a part-time counselor at Carolina Counseling Services, at 1318 Raeford Road.

The latest teen also said that he met Dent through the counseling service, police said.

An employee of Carolina Counseling Services said in September that Dent is a licensed social worker who quit working at the facility a few months earlier.

The Cumberland County Sheriff's Office also charged Dent in September with second-degree forcible sex offense and first-degree kidnapping in connection with alleged crimes involving a 17-year-old.

Cumberland County Schools has placed Dent, who has taught in the school system for more than seven years, on paid suspension.

"He is barred from all of our school facilities. He can come nowhere near any of our children during the school day," Superintendent Frank Till said Wednesday, adding that there has been no evidence of sexual abuse involving students in Cumberland County schools.

Because of the sensitive nature of the charges, Till said, investigators have provided district administrators little information in the cases against Dent, which is why he is still employed.

"We still would have (to make) a case," he said. "When we don't have any information other than he's been arrested, we don't have the solid evidence we need to proceed to that level. If we had solid evidence that led us that way, we'd move quickly on it, and that's what we're trying to do."

Till said the only way Dent would be allowed to teach again in Cumberland County is if all charges were dropped and he were completely exonerated.

Authorities have not said whether they think there might be other victims, but they said the investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information is asked to call the Fayetteville Police Department at 910-433-1856, the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office at 910-323-1500 or Crime Stoppers at 910-483-8477.