Youth baseball sexual harassment story draws attention of sheriff investigators

Sheriff's investigators are looking into reports that a 37-year-old youth baseball coach sexually harassed a 16-year-old girl working at northeast Modesto's Bel Passi Baseball park, the Stanislaus County Sheriff's Department confirmed.

Bel Passi board members brushed aside accounts of several people who witnessed the alleged sexual harassment because the coach in question is married to a board member, said a February lawsuit filed by some parents against the league.

The Modesto Bee outlined the allegations in a May report, and Bel Passi then-board president Misty Hansen was removed from her post in a June meeting. Some parents since have established a website aimed at "restoring Bel Passi Baseball and making it great again."

When The Bee's report was published, the Bel Passi board released a lengthy statement saying the league was on the verge of settling the lawsuit out of court, and denying that the girl had been sexually harassed.

"Allegations .. were thoroughly investigated by the board ... and determined to be unfounded," the statement said. "The alleged victim was adamant that this incident never happened."

The girl told others "she was fearful because she really needed this job," a former board member said in a written account obtained by The Bee. The board member was in charge of snack bar employees on March 15, 2017, and was among several who witnessed the aggression, she said.

The man "brushed up against (the girl) with his body and said, `(Expletive), what I could do to you. I would have so much fun with you,'" says the account, which parents said they forwarded to local and state authorities.

The board member, who is a woman, and another male employee immediately confronted the coach, who reportedly became belligerent and directed sexual comments to the board member before leaving in a profanity-laced tirade, the account says.

The woman collected written statements from witnesses and approached Hansen, who is named as a lawsuit defendant along with other board members. The woman was told that the board would conduct an inquiry, she said.

Instead of punishing the coach, the board member soon was told to stay away from the snack bar, and she resigned in protest.

Soon after The Bee's May report, Bel Passi's attorney, James Struck, said a videotape from the snack bar did not support witnesses' accounts.

"Our investigation is ongoing," said Sgt. Tom Letras, spokesman for the Sheriff's Department.

The lawsuit also alleged that the board did nothing to address reports of coaches harassing an autistic child, inciting violent behavior among players and admitting to cheating, and that the board suspended two players to punish their mothers, Tara Case and Dina Huelsenbeck. They are lawsuit plaintiffs, along with Case's husband, John, and Jonathan Raymond.

Bel Passi's May 10 release said the board had reached a tentative settlement "without any compensation to any alleged victim of sexual harassment or any finding that any act of sexual harassment occurred at Bel Passi Baseball's facilities." The settlement would focus on "updating the bylaws of Bel Passi to bring them current with California corporate law," the release said.

The plaintiff's Fresno-based attorney, Todd Wynkoop, said the settlement has not been finalized.

Bel Passi has about 800 players ages 3 to 14. The league began in 1953 and now is affiliated with PONY Baseball and Softball based in Washington, D.C. Bel Passi shares boundaries with the Sylvan Union School District and its ballpark is on Roselle Avenue north of Enochs High School.

Garth Stapley: 209-578-2390