A millionaire New Jersey brokerage firm trader is facing jail time after police say he had sex with a 15-year-old girl inside a private airplane in 2017.
USA Today reports that 53-year-old Stephen Bradley Mell, currently out on $1 million bail, pleaded guilty to “interstate travel to engage in illicit sexual conduct,” as well as child pornography. The incident occurred in 2017, with Mell pleading guilty to the charges in December 2018.
According to court documents, Mell met the girl when her mother signed her up for private plane lessons in 2017. He eventually began sending text and Snapchat messages to the teen. The conversations turned sexual in nature when Mell asked the girl “if she knew how to perform oral sex.”
Mell later invited the victim over to his $3.8 million mansion. In June 2017, he “performed oral sex acts” on the teen. Within a few weeks, he sent the girl a text message, claiming he missed her.
On July 5 of the same year, Mell bought the teen emergency birth control, then sent her a text message assuring her about having sex with him for the first time.
“If you are nervous it will hurt more. When you are turned on is when it will feel ok.”
A few weeks later, Mell flew the girl in a private plane from Somerset Airport to Cape Cod, with the purpose of having “a sexual act.” On the flight back, Mell put the plane in autopilot mode and had sex with the teen. The following day, he performed oral sex on her.
Throughout August, Mell continued to send messages to the victim, asking for sexually explicit photos. He later took her to New York City, where he had sex with her in a hotel room and took a nude photo of her.
In September, Mell pleaded with the girl get get on birth control, then assured her loved being around her, and not simply for sex.
“Trust me the sex is amazing but so is being around you.”
The last noted text message between the pair occurred in November 2017, when Mell asked the teen to send him a “nice naked pic cute thing.”
Mell, who lived in a mansion in a 7,768-square-foot home in Bedminster, has three children and a wife. His wife has started divorce proceedings.
Mell is scheduled to appear in federal court on Tuesday morning for sentencing. He faces a possible five years in federal prison, as well as five years of supervised release.
[Feature Photo: Stephen Bradley Mell/Handout; LinkedIn]
