NYC Little League Coach Accused Of Sexual Abuse

NEW YORK (AP) - A Little League coach was charged Wednesday with sexually abusing boys on his baseball team, and prosecutors said he videotaped some of the acts.

David Hartshorn, 52, collapsed in court as the charges were read. He was revived after the judge cleared the courtroom, and he was being held without bail.

Hartshorn was charged with use of a child in a sexual performance and sexual abuse. His attorney was in court and did not return calls seeking comment. No one answered at the local Little League branch where Hartshorn volunteered in Rochdale Village, Queens. A message left at his home was not returned.

Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said Hartshorn had inappropriate contact with two 14-year-old boys and a 13-year-old. In one instance, he showed the 13-year-old porn and then said, "I'm going to do that to you," according to prosecutors. He also invited boys over to play poker, and the loser would have to perform a sex act on another boy, which Hartshorn filmed and allowed the other boys to watch live, prosecutors said.

A search of Hartshorn's home turned up recorded movies on DVD and VHS showing young boys engaging in sex acts, and images of small children also engaging in similar sexual activity, prosecutors said.

The allegations came to light after one of the boys told his mother, who contacted police. The encounters are believed to have occurred from July 2009 to January, authorities said.

The parent Little League Baseball Inc. based in Williamsport, Pa., had no comment. A background check is performed on volunteers with the organization, which was formed in 1938 and has expanded to include leagues around the world.

Authorities say Hartshorn had been arrested in 1989 on charges of sodomy and promoting the sexual performance of a child, but it's not clear if the arrest would've shown up on a background check because it was more than 20 years old. Court records on the case weren't immediately available.

It wasn't until 1996 that a federal law was signed requiring sex offenders to register with communities.