A fourth District Court of Appeals just recently ruled in favor of Little League Baseball, stating that they are not responsible for the repeated molestations of two young athletes by a volunteer coach and umpire. Since the molestations did not take place at any of the national organization’s activities or events, the state Supreme Court does not hold it liable.

This case was initially brought to court when two brothers, Jimmy and Garrett Hickman claimed that the lack of a national screening program for Little League volunteers made it possible for Norman Watson to molest them on multiple occasions. Watson, who worked for the East Baseline Little League in San Bernardino County, CA, pleaded guilty in 1998 to 39 counts involving sexual misconduct with five children between 1990 and 1996.

The Hickman brothers testified that the molestations took place at a local high school field; at a local store where Watson worked; at the Hickman’s home; and in Watson’s car, but never at any Little League activity. As a result, Justice Thomas Hollenhorst, in an unpublished opinion for the Court of Appeal, stated that the connection between the national organization and the molestations “was as a matter of public policy, too attenuated to support imposing liability on Little League Baseball.”

Although Little League Baseball has had a policy requiring local leagues to conduct background checks since 2003, parents need to verify these checks are in fact being completed in order to ensure the safety of their children.

This entry was posted on Friday, February 16th, 2007 at 12:31 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.