Thursday, June 18, 2009

Little League Umpire John Coran Pleaded Guilty to Possession of Child Porn

A former Little League umpire from Massachusetts has pleaded guilty to a federal charge of possessing child pornography.

John Coran of Oxford entered his plea Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Worcester.

The FBI says it found sexually explicit pictures of minors on the 51-year-old Coran’s computer.

Coran’s sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 14. He faces about four years in prison under terms of a plea deal.

Little League officials in central Massachusetts tell The Telegram & Gazette that Coran has umpired games in the area since 1980. He can no longer do so.

Local police say there have been no complaints of inappropriate contact between Coran and area children.

Coran’s federal public defender did not immediately return a call Thursday

Baseball Coach William Jacobsen Guilty of Sexual Abuse


A Bell County jury returned a guilty verdict Wednesday afternoon in the trial of former youth baseball coach William Thomas Jacobsen, who was charged with two counts of continuous sexual abuse of a child in a series of incidents involving two young boys, one of whom was a member of his team.

Jurors returned the verdict after about a day of testimony.

On Tuesday, the victims detailed incidents that typically involved sleepovers at Jacobsen’s house where he gave boys alcohol and then singled one out for abuse, away from the others.

Jacobsen is the first person to be indicted and tried under the continuous sexual abuse of a child law, which went into effect in September 2007 and which raises the punishment range from 25 years to life without parole in certain sexual assault cases.

Jacobsen will be sentenced later.

The charges stem from an investigation that started on June 10, 2008 when deputies were sent to Scott & White Hospital in response to a report that a youth baseball coach had sexually assaulted a 13-year-old boy.

The boy told investigators the sexual assaults started about a year before and said the latest had occurred in early June. 2008.

Authorities identified at least four potential victims, but Jacobsen went to trial on charges stemming from incidents involving just two.

Jacobsen was relieved of his coaching duties after deputies advised the Little River-Academy Youth Baseball League about the investigation.

He was also relieved of his duties as a Little River-Academy volunteer firefighter.

Jacobsen didn’t stick around to wait for deputies to arrest him, however.

He and his wife fled the area on June 21, 2008 after an initial interview with investigators.

The two were fugitives for 50 days before being captured in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico on August 9, 2008.

Marilyn Wesson, 58, was charged with hindering apprehension.

She is scheduled to go on trial next month.
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Perry Leonard Gibbs Accused of Molesting 4-year-old


A local man has been arrested after he was accused of molesting a four-year girl back in 2000.

Perry Leonard Gibbs, 52, of 5451 Still Road Lot 5 in Bratt, was arrested and charged with molesting a child under the age of 12. He remained in the Escambia County Jail Friday morning on $25,000 bond.

A female told the investigators under oath that Gibbs molested her in 2000 when she was four and five years old, according to Sgt. Ted Roy with the Escambia County Sheriff’s Department. The victim told investigators that the molestation occurred in the Walnut Hill area.

The female made the allegations in May of this year, accord to Roy.

Gibbs, who provided an Atmore, Ala., address at the time of his arrest, made his initial court appearance Wednesday afternoon via a closed circuit video feed from the Escambia County Jail. If he makes bond, Gibbs was ordered to have no direct or indirect contact with the victim and to wear a GPS monitor.

The felony molestation charge carries a maximum penalty of life in prison. Gibbs is due back in court in early July.

Former Major League Outfielder Mel Hall Convicted of Raping 12-year-old


Former major league outfielder Mel Hall was sentenced to 45 years in prison yesterday in Fort Worth, Texas, after being convicted of raping a 12-year-old girl and sexually abusing or inappropriately touching three girls.

Hall, 48, looked skyward and swayed back and forth as the verdict was read. One of his two daughters who testified on his behalf during the punishment phase sobbed as the reality of the sentence set in.

Jurors reached the verdict on the punishment after about an hour of deliberating. They took about 90 minutes Tuesday to convict Hall on three counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child and two counts of indecency with a child. He must serve about 22 1/2 years in prison before becoming eligible for parole.

After the verdict was announced, prosecutor Kim D'Avignon read a brief statement on behalf of the 12-year-old victim and other of Hall's accusers.

"We believe that the verdict does on some level show that the jury understood," D'Avignon said. "They looked in these girls' eyes and said this is worth 40 years and we agree with them."

The defense had argued in the sentencing phase of the trial that Hall was a good man who mentored a lot of athletes and had a lot of good still to do.
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More Information:
http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-newswire18-2009jun18,0,7811386.story