Ex-Red Sox employee will avoid prison

The man, accused of sexually assaulting boys during spring training, will plead guilty in exchange for a suspended sentence and 15 years' probation.

By ALICIA CALDWELL, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published May 16, 2002

The former Boston Red Sox clubhouse manager accused of sexually assaulting bat boys at the team's spring training home in Winter Haven has agreed to a plea deal that will keep him out of prison, said the lead prosecutor on the case.

Donald James Fitzpatrick, 72, is expected to appear in a Polk County courtroom today and plead guilty to four counts of attempted sexual battery, said Polk assistant state attorney Wayne Durden.

According to the negotiated deal, Fitzpatrick will be sentenced to 15 years of probation and a 10-year suspended prison sentence, Durden said.

Durden said prosecutors agreed to a sentence that did not include jail time because of Fitzpatrick's advanced age and poor health. Fitzpatrick, who lives in Massachusetts, receives kidney dialysis three times a week, Durden said.

The victims in the case had been notified and agreed with the deal, Durden said.

But one of the victims in the case, Leeronnie Ogletree, issued a statement through a Tallahassee lawyer Wednesday saying he "vehemently objects" to what he called a "sweetheart deal." The statement said Ogletree planned to attend the hearing in Bartow today and protest the deal.

Last year, seven former bat boys who worked for Fitzpatrick during spring training games in Florida between 1971 and 1991 filed a federal lawsuit against Fitzpatrick and the baseball team. The lawsuit, which is still pending, alleges that the boys were singled out for special attention by Fitzpatrick, known as Fitzy, then sexually assaulted.

The boys, according to the lawsuit, all were African-American.

In December, Larry D. Hardaway, a Bartow lawyer for six of the seven plaintiffs, said the boys were targeted because they were poor and vulnerable -- children who would be the best victims because they would be the least likely to be believed by authorities if they stepped forward.

Fitzpatrick paid the boys to help him pack players' bags and clean up the locker room.

Most of the boys are related to one another, and their family members would come to the games. The boys thought the only way they could continue to rub elbows with professional ballplayers and take home broken bats, balls and even jerseys was to allow the abuse to continue, the lawsuit alleges.

The Boston Globe reported that in 1991, just before the Sox were to play the Angels, a former team aide leaned over the Sox dugout with a sign accusing Fitzpatrick of molesting him. Fitzpatrick left the team four days later, never to return.

On Wednesday, Red Sox spokesman Kevin Shea referred inquiries for comment to Dan Goldberg, a lawyer representing the team in the lawsuit. Goldberg faxed a statement that said, in part:

"The Red Sox abhor and condemn the conduct alleged in the matter of Mr. Fitzpatrick and have cooperated fully in the investigation. Mr. Fitzpatrick has not worked for the Red Sox in more than a decade and the alleged activities took place, in some instances, more than twenty years ago. Obviously, the Red Sox were not aware of the activities. . . . The Red Sox commend the Florida authorities for their pursuit of the matter."

-- Times researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this report.

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