Dem mayor who led Gettysburg Pride arrested for sex crimes with minor

Democrat and former mayor of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, Chad-Alan Carr, 48, stepped down earlier this month after serving just over two months in office. Authorities have said he groomed a teenage boy with sexually explicit videos. 

Brian Sinnett, the district attorney for Adams County, Pennsylvania, announced Carr’s arrest during a Friday afternoon press conference alongside Pennsylvania State Police.

During his tenure as mayor, Carr pushed for LGBTQ messaging around the historic town where the Battle of Gettysburg took place in the Civil War. He was also the president of Gettysburg Pride, but stepped away from the role at a similar time to when he resigned as mayor.

Carr faces multiple criminal charges, including two felony counts tied to photographing or filming sexual acts and knowingly depicting them on a computer. He is also charged with one misdemeanor count of corruption of minors.

If convicted on all counts, Carr could face a maximum penalty approaching 30 years behind bars, per WGAL. A judge set Carr’s bail at $100,000, and his preliminary hearing is scheduled for March 20.

Court records state that investigators received a Childline report on Feb. 24 after a complainant said Carr had started contacting him while he was still underage "soliciting photos and grooming behaviors."

"The report also alleged that (the victim) reported Skype conversations and video chats, where he and Carr would engage in sexual acts," the affidavit stated. "The Childline report also added that Carr was volunteering at (the victim's) high school."

The affidavit said that detectives later interviewed the alleged victim, who told them he had known Carr since childhood but that inappropriate behavior did not begin until Carr became involved with high school musical productions in Gettysburg when the teen was 14.

"(The victim) reported that Carr was very rude to many of the students involved in the high school plays and treated him the same as everyone else the first two years he performed," the affidavit said. "(The victim) then related that his sophomore and junior years of high school, Carr became very kind and he gave (the victim) a lot of attention. (The victim) then recalled Carr asking him how they could get in touch, not through school email."

Investigators say the pair later began messaging on Skype, which Carr allegedly described as "late night talks." Authorities say the exchanges occurred between 2011 and 2013, when the alleged victim was 16 and 17 years old and the two would sext each other. 

The victim told authorities that Carr would share explicit photos of himself and ask the victim to perform sex acts on video. When he resigned earlier in March, he cited that it was because of a "personal legal matter."