Ice cream man charged with rape appears in court

RALEIGH (WTVD) -- The man who allegedly used his ice cream truck to lure and rape a teen faced a Wake County judge Monday.

Sellers stood listening as the judge read the long list of charges he's facing, which includes kidnapping and rape.

He did not say much, but the family of his alleged victim yelled at Sellers and seemed visibly upset as they left the courtroom.

This all started last week, when Garner police issued an Amber Alert for a 14-year-old girl who was seen getting into an ice cream truck. Authorities said an officer eventually spotted the truck and found Sellers and the girl, who told them she had been raped.

Sellers, who has a lengthy criminal record, owned the truck and did not have a license to sell ice cream in Garner. A town spokesperson said vendors do not have to get a background check in order to get a license.

Now, Garner Mayor Ronnie Williams is calling for stricter laws regulating ice cream truck vendors.

"With this type of business, ice cream, there is, in a lot of cases, contact with children," said Williams. "So I'm going to propose and talk to the council about some regulation. It's regrettable what happened but we're working on making things a little better."

What is required for a license varies depending on the town or city you're in. In Raleigh and Garner, for example, a vendor just has fill out an application and pay the fee.

On the other hand, the town of Wake Forest does require a background check with the police department before a vendor can even apply for a license.

Sellers remains in jail on a $1 million bond. His next court appearance will be Sept. 10.

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