TULSA, Okla. — A Tulsa police officer is facing felony child abuse charges, according to a statement from the Muscogee (Creek) Nation.
Michael Donovan Bell was charged Thursday — after his arrest on Monday, April 18 — by the Muscogee Nation’s Lighthorse Police.
The Tulsa Police Department (TPD) released a statement Wednesday explaining Bell was arrested for an alleged child abuse incident that took place while he was off-duty in Jenks, Okla.
Jenks is within the boundaries of the Muscogee Nation’s Reservation, and both Bell and the victim, an infant, are Native American.
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TPD confirmed that prior to his arrested, Bell was placed on Administrative Leave and relieved of his duties pending an investigation.
According to the Muscogee Nation, Bell’s arrest was “the result of cooperative engagement between the Muscogee (Creek) Nation Lighthorse Police and these agencies: Jenks Police Department, the Oklahoma Department of Human Services, Indian Child Welfare and the Tulsa Police Department.”
“We are grateful to the multiple law-enforcement and child-protection agencies who provided our Lighthorse Police investigators and arresting officers with important collaboration and cooperation in this case,” said Lighthorse Chief Richard Phillips.
Lighthorse Police took Bell into custody Monday at the TPD Mingo Valley Substation, and they booked him into the David L. Moss Criminal Justice Center in Tulsa County. This facility is one of the correctional facilities that have incarceration agreements with the Muscogee Nation.
Bell is scheduled for arraignment in Musgoee Nation District Court on July 11, 2022. Thursday, Chief Justice Roger Wiley set bail at $10,000 and ordered that Bell have no contact with the victim.
“The Muscogee (Creek) Nation intends to continue pursuing this investigation and will prosecute this case to the fullest extent possible to deliver justice for the victim,” said Attorney General Geri Wisner.
Wisner continued, “We also have engaged our Nation’s victim-services resources to provide wrap-around services and support to the infant and the non-offending caregiver.”
Bell was hired on as a TPD officer in September 2019, and he was assigned to Patrol in the Mingo Valley Division of TPD.
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