-
May 16, 2008 6:56 pm US/Eastern
-
Digg |
Facebook |
E-mail
|
Print
Washington Co. Little League Coach Fired
WASHINGTON (KDKA) ―
A Little League coach in Washington County has been fired after a past statutory sexual assault charge came to light.
William Cline, Jr., 40, was accused of having sex with a teenage girl several years ago. He pled guilty to the charge in March of 2005. The incident happened two years previously.
The 10 Mile Youth Baseball Leage voted unanimously to dismiss Cline from his volunteer position.
Cline says he dated the 16-year-old girl for months believing she was 18. At the time, he was separated from his wife and children.
"I am no child molester. I want that clear for .. I want that on the record. It was a case of me being lied to about a girl's age I was dating," Cline told KDKA in a telephone interview on Wednesday.
The league did a background check on Cline through IntelliSeach, but it did not show any criminal history.
"We weren't there to judge Mr. Cline, we were not there to prove what he did was wrong or right, the simple fact is we hold our coaches and volunteers to a higher standard," Jason Kern, a spokesman for the 10 Mile Youth League, said.
Cline never showed up on the Megan's Law registry because in Pennsylvania his statutory sexual offense, though a second-degree felony, is not registerable.
The league says it may institute stronger guidelines next year.
Cline tells KDKA's Mary Robb Jackson he believed the girl was 18 and that she had gone out with him with her mother's consent. He also will try to have his record expunged so that he might coach Little League again.
(© MMVIII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)