Prince George’s Co. firefighter found guilty of child sex abuse

WASHINGTON — A Prince George’s County firefighter was found guilty of child sex abuse charges that stemmed from an incident in 2015.

A Charles County jury last week found 39-year-old Donald McCoy Stancell guilty of child sexual abuse. Stancell, a 14-year veteran of the Prince George’s County Fire & EMS Department and career firefighter, resigned from his position following the guilty verdict.

In November 2015, Stancell sexually abused a minor under the age of 18 in Charles County, according to charging documents. Stancell was off-duty at the time of the incident, Prince George’s County Fire & EMS spokesman Mark Brady said in a Wednesday news release announcing the verdict.

Stancell had pleaded not guilty to the charge, but a jury found him guilty on Nov. 21.

When Stancell was initially charged in January 2016, he was placed on administrative leave with limited public contact status. After being found guilty, the department placed him on annual leave pending an internal review; Stancell resigned.

Sarah Beth Hensley

Sarah Beth Hensley is the Digital News Director at WTOP. She has worked several different roles since she began with WTOP in 2013 and has contributed to award-winning stories and coverage on the website.

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