Enrique Soto, one of baseball’s most prominent trainers in the Dominican Republic for the last two decades, has been sentenced to 10 years in prison after being convicted of charges of sexually assaulting two boys who were trainees at his academy 10 years ago, according to a report that first aired Monday night on Noticias Sin.
Soto was convicted nearly two years after the two players, now adults, pressed charges against him. According to the Noticias Sin report, one of the prosecution lawyers, Jorge de los Santos, described the decision as a victory, but said he was expecting Soto to appeal.
Last year the players spoke to Alicia Ortega of Noticias Sin, which ran an in-depth report with graphic descriptions of their allegations. A third player in Ortega’s report who also claimed Soto assaulted him, Yunior Pena Peguero, was stabbed to death on June 26, 2011, outside a shop in Bani before the story aired on July 4.
Soto, who worked as a scout for the Oakland Athletics in the 1990s, became one of the most powerful trainers in Latin America. His program, which is based in Bani, produced Miguel Tejada, Willy Aybar and Erick Aybar. He also trained shortstop Esteilon Peguero, who signed with the Mariners in December 2010 for US$2.9 million, which would have been the largest bonus of the year for an international amateur player, but Peguero’s bonus was later reduced to US$1.1 million for undisclosed reasons. Rangers catcher Jorge Alfaro, who signed for US$1.3 million out of Colombia in 2010, and Seattle’s Jharmidy DeJesus, who signed for US$1 million in 2007, also trained with Soto.
www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/international-affairs/2013/2614658.html