A 59-year-old Baltimore County softball coach was arrested and charged with rape, sexual abuse of a minor, and solicitation of child pornography after allegedly grooming and abusing a 17-year-old female player.
The abuse allegedly occurred on July 25 at Eastern Regional Park in Middle River, where he sexually assaulted the teen inside her vehicle after months of inappropriate text messages, which included 37 explicit images he sent on June 13 using his work phone.
The coach and the teen player began sexual encounters in mid-March, involving at least five in-person meetings, one where he bit her neck.
The coach is alleged to have exploited his position as her coach and as her parents' boss to intimidate her. The victim's mother had known the accused for five years through the league, where he recruited her daughter. The coach later hired both parents at his company, fostering close family ties, including with his wife.
The accused passed a February 2025 background check for volunteering with recreation councils like Overlea Rec and Middle River Rec, and he last coached at Kenwood High School in spring 2025. He was immediately removed from all roles when the allegations surfaced and is being held without bond as a public safety threat.
Source: https://www.cbsnews.com/baltimore/news/baltimore-county-softball-coach-accused-sexually-abusing-minor/
Commentary
The defendant's dual role as both family employer and the child's coach created a powerful imbalance of trust and authority that he used to gain access to the victim and to exploit her.
By employing the girl's parents, he positioned himself not only as a trusted figure in their professional lives, but also as someone exerting influence over their financial security. That dependency likely lowered the family's guard, reducing their ability to scrutinize his private interactions with their daughter or challenge his behavior without fear of retaliation or loss of employment.
This situation demonstrates how overlapping roles - particularly when one adult holds economic and supervisory control - can blur boundaries and compromise safeguards meant to protect minors.
In loss prevention and child safety programs, such conflicts of interest increase the risk of grooming and exploitation because the offender leverages professional authority to create emotional and social isolation around the child.
Preventive strategies must therefore include strict separation between volunteer or coaching roles and employment relationships, along with background checks that account for contextual risks, not just criminal history.
