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Former fire chief caught having sex with teen has all charges held for trial

VERSAILLES, Pa. — The former Versailles volunteer fire chief who is accused of having sex with an underage girl had all of his charges held for trial Monday.

Aaron Powell, 46, is also accused of sending that girl suggestive text messages and videos.

Detectives say Powell sent the 17-year-old victim more than 1,000 text messages, some of them graphic videos. Police also maintain they know it is Powell in those videos, even though his face cannot be seen.

Channel 11 was the first to tell you about Powell's arrest in November after a McKeesport police sergeant found him with the 17-year-old girl in the parking lot of the McKee's Point Marina, according to a criminal complaint.

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The officer testified Monday, saying Powell "had his pants down and a female had her top off and pants down."

The officer told the judge he saw Powell and a 17-year-old girl having sex.

"I can tell you that Mr. Powell maintains that he thought that the accuser on the case was 18 years of age. He thought this was an adult, consensual relationship," said defense attorney Blaine Jones.

An Allegheny County police detective also testified that they searched the 17-year-old victim's phone and found more than a thousand text messages on her phone sent from Powell in one week.

The detective testified "there were text messages on the phone that were concerning" including "two videos of Powell exposing himself."

When cross-examined, Powell's attorney Blaine Jones questioned how investigators could identify Powell in the video.

"Do you see my client's face?" Jones said. "I think those are pretty reasonable and logical questions."

The detective admitted they couldn't see Powell's face, but determined it was him because "the tattoos of Mr. Powell match the tattoos seen in the video."

The victim in the case did not testify and her family remained outside during the whole court proceeding.

A preliminary hearing is set for March 8.