Gettysburg’s recently resigned mayor exchanged sexually explicit messages and photos with a teenage boy more than 10 years ago while working together at the community theater that he founded, police said.
Chad-Alan Carr, 48, was the executive director of the Gettysburg Community Theater when the abuse happened in 2011-13, with a boy who was 16-17 years old, according to an affidavit of probable cause filed by Pennsylvania State Police.
Carr was arrested on Friday on child sex offenses. State police are asking any other victims to call the Gettysburg barracks at 717-334-8111 or the state police tip line at 800-472-8477.
The affidavit gave the following account:
On Feb. 24, state police received a Childline report from a man who said Carr groomed him when he was a teenager.
State police interviewed the man the next day. He told troopers he got involved in theater at age 8, first at the Eichelberger Performing Arts Center in Hanover, then at the Gettysburg Community Theater when he was 14.
At first, Carr was “very rude to many of the students involved in the high school plays and treated him the same as everyone else,” the affidavit said.
But when he was a sophomore or junior in high school, he said Carr became “very kind” and gave him a lot of attention.
Carr asked the boy how he could get in touch with him outside of his school email, the affidavit said. Court documents said they started messaging on Facebook and then moved to Skype, where they could message and talk over video calls.
The man said Carr referred to their Skype calls as “late night talks,” comprised of sexual messages and photos, the affidavit said.
According to the affidavit, there were at least three Skype calls where Carr instructed the teen on what sex acts to perform and when. Court documents said the teen exposed himself to Carr while on camera, and the pair exchanged nude photos.
State police said in court documents that they became aware on March 3 that Carr was resigning from his mayoral position and from his position as the head of the community theater.
The affidavit said Gettysburg Borough Council President Matt Moon took over as mayor after Carr’s close friend and mayoral campaign manager said Carr told her the allegations are true.
Carr’s manager said Carr called her on March 1 in a panic, worried about the Skype messages and that the state police would soon be receiving them, the affidavit said.
The affidavit said Carr told his campaign manager that there were “plenty of inappropriate messages” between him and the teen.
He was charged on Friday with two felony counts of photographing or filming child sex acts, as well as a misdemeanor count of corruption of minors.
At a Friday press conference, District Attorney Brian Sinnett said investigators have found several other people with whom Carr had “inappropriate conversations.” Sinnett said the charges filed Friday are only connected to the man who came forward in February.
Online court records show Carr was arraigned Friday morning, and a preliminary hearing is scheduled for March 20. He was unable to post $100,000 bail and was taken to Adams County Prison.
Carr was a former Gettysburg borough councilman who was elected mayor in the fall. He resigned after two months in the role.
A Democrat and council member-at-large, Carr announced his mayoral candidacy a little more than a year ago, according to the Gettysburgian.
“Since moving here 17 years ago, I have worked to bring people together to share peace, love, happiness, and equality in Gettysburg,” he said at the time. “I will continue to do so, but I also believe Gettysburg needs stronger transparency and accountability to our community, and as mayor, I plan to improve that.”
Carr’s profile on the Gettysburg government page notes that he is “a strong advocate for Gettysburg’s youth,” creating opportunities for young people in the theater, and that he co-founded Gettysburg Pride in 2017.
He founded the Gettysburg Community Theater in 2009 and stepped down as executive director around the same time he resigned as mayor.