T-Ball pays player to assault boy with autism

Just when you thought you had heard everything, indeed:

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05197/539043.stm

Arranged attack to sideline autistic player, police say

Saturday, July 16, 2005

By Moustafa Ayad, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette







A Fayette County tee-ball coach was arraigned on felony charges yesterday that he bribed a 7-year-old player to throw a baseball at a mentally disabled teammate's face to keep the boy out of a game.

State police said Mark Downs Jr., 27, of Dunbar, offered his star player $25 on June 27 to hit an 8-year-old autistic child with a baseball because he wanted to win the game.

"Just when you thought you had seen everything," said state Trooper Thomas B. Broadwater.

Downs' lawyer, Thomas Shaffer, said his client denies the charges.