Yolo jury convicts Arizona softball coach who sexually abused underage athletes, DA says
A Yolo County jury has convicted a 43-year-old youth softball batting coach of sexually abusing underage athletes he was hired to train, including victims from Arizona and Nevada who came forward after hearing news of his arrest, prosecutors said.
On Thursday, Buck Maldonado Thomas, of Arizona, was found guilty of multiple crimes including forcible sexual assault of a minor, first-degree burglary and sexual battery on a minor, according to a news release from the Yolo County District Attorney’s Office.
A Yolo County girl was the first athlete to make a complaint, telling police that Thomas had sexually assaulted her at her home in July 2018, prosecutors said. She revealed the abuse in November 2018. Her family had hired Thomas as a private hitting coach after she met him at a softball tournament in Orange County.
Prosecutors said the crimes were alleged to have taken place in West Sacramento. The freelance batting coach did not have his own facility. Instead, he coached girls at his home or traveled to their homes.
The West Sacramento Police Department immediately investigated the allegations against Thomas after the initial complaint and then learned of a second possible local victim who also trained with him.
Both girls appeared at the Yolo County Multi-Disciplinary Interview Center, where underage victims of alleged sexual abuse are interviewed by forensically trained experts, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
In January 2019, Thomas was arrested in the Phoenix area by Maricopa County Sheriff’s deputies, the Arizona Republic reported. Authorities told the Phoenix newspaper that one of the alleged victims had traveled from California to train in Arizona, where the alleged assault occurred. Thomas was later extradited to California to face charges in Yolo County.
At the time of his March 2019 arraignment in Yolo County, prosecutors suspected others may also have been victimized by Thomas.
Two more athletes from Arizona and one from Nevada learned of Thomas’ arrest in the news and through friends and acquaintances, and gave investigators information about Thomas. Prosecutors said these victims told police Thomas had given them batting instruction and that he had sexually assaulted them.
The athletes from Arizona and Nevada testified during Thomas’ three-and-half-week trial, before the jury reached a verdict after a day and a half of deliberations.
“Mr. Thomas used his notoriety as a hitting coach to gain the trust of the parents and the minor victims in order to accomplish his sexual assaults,” District Attorney Jeff Reisig said in the news release. “We are grateful this trial gave these brave victims a voice and glad that the jury did justice in this case.”
Thomas is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 30 by Yolo Superior Court Judge Paul Richardson. He faces a maximum sentence of life in prison, official said.
