Apartment maintenance man found guilty of sexual battery of tenant

Following a half-day of non-jury trial, an apartment maintenance man was found guilty of sexually assaulting a co-worker and a tenant in 2021.

Testimony and evidence was heard by Comanche County Chief District Judge Scott D. Meaders on Wednesday morning in the trial of Detravius Jarelle Bell, 40, of Lawton, for a felony count of sexual battery, records indicate.

Meaders found Bell guilty and ordered a pre-sentencing investigation. Bell returns to court at 11 a.m. Aug. 3 for sentencing.

Testimony included a witness who said Bell made a sexual comment to her at the apartment complex where he worked while she was standing on her balcony with her roommate and he was in a golf cart below her.

She testified that later that day, Bell came over and said he was going to fix a damaged ceiling in her apartment and after he finished he walked up behind her while she was in the kitchen and grabbed her butt before fondling her inappropriately.

Assistant District Attorney Jill Oliver prosecuted the case and Ken Sue Doerfel served as defense counsel.

Following his sentencing, Bell will return to court Aug. 28 for placement on the September/October jury trial docket for a felony charge of forcible sodomy, records indicate.

After the tenant reported the incident in the sexual battery case, a co-worker told police that between October 2019 and August 2021, Bell had forced her to perform oral sex on him at least once, according to the charge. She claimed he’d been sexually pressuring her over that time period.

Bell remains free on $20,000 bond for the sexual battery case and another $20,000 bond for the forcible sodomy case.