A former Little League coach of the year pleaded guilty to sexually abusing players on his team.
David Hartshorn, a former coach at the Rochdale Village Little League, was arrested and charged in February with having sexual contact with three boys, ages 13 and 14, at his Rochdale Village home between July 2009 and January 2011. He was also accused of showing child pornography to minors and filming two teens engaged in sex acts.
Hartshorn pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree criminal sexual act, two counts of second-degree criminal sexual act and two counts of use of a child in a sexual performance. Queens Supreme Court Justice Richard L. Buchter indicated Hartshorn would be sentenced to 18 years in prison, the district attorney’s office said.
“The defendant has admitted being a sexual predator who took advantage of his position as a Little League baseball coach to get close to young boys before sexually abusing them,” said District Attorney Richard Brown. “The consequences of his actions can have a lasting and profound impact on his victims – for that reason alone, the intended prison sentence to be meted out by the Court is more than warranted.”
According to the criminal charges, Hartshorn would frequently have members of his team at his residence.
This isn’t Hartshorn’s first time in trouble with the law. According to published reports, he was convicted in 1989 on charges of sodomy, promoting sexual performance by a child under 16 and promoting obscene sexual performance by a child under 16.
Hartshorn has been held without bail since his February 2011 arrest.
— Additional reporting by Steve Mosco
