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2112
10-12-2006, 02:53 PM
T-ball coach gets 1-6 years for ordering beaning
Thursday, October 12, 2006

By Moustafa Ayad, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

UNIONTOWN, Pa. -- A youth league baseball coach convicted of getting one of his players to injure a teammate was sentenced to one to six years in prison today.



Mark Downs Jr.


Fayette County Judge Ralph Warman said the actions by Mark Downs Jr., of Dunbar, in June 2005 were "outrageous" and "extremely reprehensible" because he was coaching a league of children 7 to 9 years old.

Testimony indicated Mr. Downs promised $25 to one of his best players if he hurled a ball at Harry Bowers Jr., 11, an autistic and mildly retarded teammate, presumably to keep him from playing in a game.

A jury convicted Mr. Downs last month of corruption of minors and conspiracy to commit simple assault.

Judge Warman sentenced him to six months to three years on each count.

Mr. Downs didn't say anything during this afternoon's sentencing hearing. But as he was led away, he replied "Yes" when asked if he thought the sentence was too harsh.

Judge Warman could have sentenced him to up to 12 years.

Mr. Downs' bond was revoked and he was taken to jail to await transfer to a state prison.

Mr. Downs' family, including his wife, a 6-week-old baby and three other children were in the courtroom for part of the hearing. But the three older children were hurried out before the actual sentencing.

Jennifer Bowers, mother of the injured player, said the sentencing ends a chapter in the story. "Hopefully we can close the book on this," she said, but added her son still doesn't understand what happened
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2112
10-12-2006, 02:55 PM
What a jerkoff this guy is!!!! :mad: :mad:

B2chiefsfan
10-12-2006, 03:05 PM
He's about to get a butt beaning........:hump:

Spott
10-12-2006, 03:06 PM
It's a little obvious if one of your players gets beaned when they are playing Tee-Ball.

BIG_DADDY
10-12-2006, 03:07 PM
It's a little obvious if one of your players gets beaned when they are playing Tee-Ball. LOL

B2chiefsfan
10-12-2006, 03:07 PM
It's a little obvious if one of your players gets beaned when they are playing Tee-Ball.

They should make him sit on the Tee for the next 1-6 years....

Chiefnj
10-12-2006, 03:08 PM
Per ESPN:

The maximum sentence for the Downs' crimes is five years in prison, but under Pennsylvania sentencing guidelines he likely faces only probation when he's sentenced Oct. 12 because he is not known to have a criminal record.

Plus, in jail he wouldn't be able to earn money to pay for any damages in a future civil suit.

Rain Man
10-12-2006, 03:13 PM
The guy's an idiot, but that sentence is way too harsh. He should've been fined, given a couple of nights in jail, and banned from coaching again.

Kyle401
10-12-2006, 03:16 PM
He deserved it. Paying someone to hurt another person is a criminal act.


I wonder if anyone will sue that WV HS football coach who went no huddle in the second half to set the HS rushing record? I'll bet that a civil suit for emotional/psychological distress would be successful.

Mr. Laz
10-12-2006, 03:18 PM
The guy's an idiot, but that sentence is way too harsh. He should've been fined, given a couple of nights in jail, and banned from coaching again.
that's exactly what he's getting


1-6 years for a 1st time offender = no jail time and probation


maybe ... a long shot, he gets 120 day call back and spends 4 months in jail.


civil suit should give him an anal reaming though

BIG_DADDY
10-12-2006, 03:19 PM
The guy's an idiot, but that sentence is way too harsh. He should've been fined, given a couple of nights in jail, and banned from coaching again.

Agreed, that's just friggen ridiculous. Just tie him up like a pinata and let the Autistic kid practice his swing. DONE

This probably falls under one of those ridiculous new felony laws they like to throw on for good measure like reckless endangerment.

BIG_DADDY
10-12-2006, 03:22 PM
He deserved it. Paying someone to hurt another person is a criminal act.


I wonder if anyone will sue that WV HS football coach who went no huddle in the second half to set the HS rushing record? I'll bet that a civil suit for emotional/psychological distress would be successful.

I think the government should force everyone to wear skirts and skip instead of walk. Our judicial branch in this country has been out of hand for some time now. We lock up a higher percentage of our population than any other country in the world. Welcome to America the land of the free. Give me a break.

mdstu
10-12-2006, 03:38 PM
I think the government should force everyone to wear skirts and skip instead of walk. Our judicial branch in this country has been out of hand for some time now. We lock up a higher percentage of our population than any other country in the world. Welcome to America the land of the free. Give me a break.

You are right IMO.

But this is mostly due to the ridiculous drug enforcement laws and not due to the laws we have about adults assaulting handicapped children because they want to win a T-ball game.

I could be wrong though.

Brock
10-12-2006, 03:44 PM
I don't think it's anything to make a felon out of anybody over.

Duck Dog
10-12-2006, 03:45 PM
Per ESPN:

The maximum sentence for the Downs' crimes is five years in prison, but under Pennsylvania sentencing guidelines he likely faces only probation when he's sentenced Oct. 12 because he is not known to have a criminal record.

Plus, in jail he wouldn't be able to earn money to pay for any damages in a future civil suit.


That's sounds about right for the crime. Well, that and a good 'ol fashion ass whoopin.

mdstu
10-12-2006, 03:46 PM
If that had been my kid, I might have been the felon. Don't know what I would have done to that guy.

Chiefnj
10-12-2006, 03:47 PM
What the coach did is reprehensible. However, should an autistic and mildly retarded child be on the same team as non-austic children? Should a volunteer little league coach be expected to work with and coach special needs children when they don't have any training, expertise or real life experience in the area?

sedated
10-12-2006, 03:47 PM
adults assaulting handicapped children because they want to win a T-ball game.

it's part of the game, and hardly assault.

would this same punishment apply if the kid wasn't autistic? NO.

so keep the retarted kids off the field if you want them to be protected.

you can't play a game and put a bubble around one particular person, that person should not play in the first place.

if you play sports, you are running the risk of getting hit or hurt
(unless it's soccer, then you're just a pussy)

JBucc
10-12-2006, 03:49 PM
it's part of the gameI haven't played Teeball in a while, but I don't think beaning your teammates is part of the game.:spock:

BIG_DADDY
10-12-2006, 03:49 PM
You are right IMO.

But this is mostly due to the ridiculous drug enforcement laws and not due to the laws we have about adults assaulting handicapped children because they want to win a T-ball game.

I could be wrong though.

No, your absolutely right. Our society is WAY over legislated though.

BIG_DADDY
10-12-2006, 03:52 PM
What the coach did is reprehensible. However, should an autistic and mildly retarded child be on the same team as non-austic children? Should a volunteer little league coach be expected to work with and coach special needs children when they don't have any training, expertise or real life experience in the area?

In the new PC world we live in yes. Nobody is supposed to keep score and they are all supposed to be champions and get trophies too. This country will fall within 2 generations at this rate.

Kyle401
10-12-2006, 03:54 PM
I think the government should force everyone to wear skirts and skip instead of walk. Our judicial branch in this country has been out of hand for some time now. We lock up a higher percentage of our population than any other country in the world. Welcome to America the land of the free. Give me a break.

He's a grown man who manipulated one child with the intention of hurting another child. It's too bad the kid's dad didn't have the stones to handle this the appropriate way.

I believe he was acquitted on reckless endangerment charges FWIW.

mdstu
10-12-2006, 03:55 PM
it's part of the game, and hardly assault.

would this same punishment apply if the kid wasn't autistic? NO.

so keep the retarted kids off the field if you want them to be protected.

you can't play a game and put a bubble around one particular person, that person should not play in the first place.

if you play sports, you are running the risk of getting hit or hurt
(unless it's soccer, then you're just a pussy)

It is not a part of the game, ever.

You will never convince me that it is a part of the game to try to intentionally injure one of your own players so that you don't have to play them.

This wasn't a brushback pitch or a retaliation. Hell it's T-ball.

It is a bit harsh, but I can live with it.

sedated
10-12-2006, 03:59 PM
wait...it was t-ball, and the guy hurt his own teammate?

how the hell do you do that in T-ball anyway?

nevermind, I thought it was regular baseball and got hit by an opponent.

I really gotta learn to read

BIG_DADDY
10-12-2006, 03:59 PM
He's a grown man who manipulated one child with the intention of hurting another child. It's too bad the kid's dad didn't have the stones to handle this the appropriate way.

I believe he was acquitted on reckless endangerment charges FWIW.

Yea and I remember when I was 6 years old having a neighbors father tell his son to kick my ass and standing over us telling his son what to do when we threw down, so what? Was it stupid, yes. Locking him up for years behind bars though is ridiculous.

Kyle401
10-12-2006, 04:10 PM
Was it stupid, yes. Locking him up for years behind bars though is ridiculous.

I'm sure he will be out on parole as soon as they can process a request.

Mr. Laz
10-12-2006, 04:20 PM
it's part of the game, and hardly assault.

would this same punishment apply if the kid wasn't autistic? NO.

so keep the retarted kids off the field if you want them to be protected.

you can't play a game and put a bubble around one particular person, that person should not play in the first place.

if you play sports, you are running the risk of getting hit or hurt
(unless it's soccer, then you're just a pussy)
1st - they are very young kids

2nd - at that young of age it's quasi competitive

3rd - you wouldn't be taking out your ass like this if you had a kid that was disabled. A child that you loved them so much, so deeply that you desperately wanted them to try and do as much as they could. To run and play with other kids ... to be happy ....... without a jackass POS coach who cared more about winning than he did the kids he was coaching.


should that coach go to jail ...... no ...... should the father of the kid he had beaned beat the ever loving crap outa him .... absolutely.

he'd be a freaking bloody mess ... i'd leave that jackhole in a ditch somewhere with a bat shoved so far up his ass it would actually give him a backbone.

svuba
10-12-2006, 04:25 PM
Yea and I remember when I was 6 years old having a neighbors father tell his son to kick my ass and standing over us telling his son what to do when we threw down, so what? Was it stupid, yes. Locking him up for years behind bars though is ridiculous.

Not the same thing BD, your neighbors dad was not charged with your safety. If I entrusted my son to the coaches care, and the coach intentionally tried to disable him I would pull a Lawrence phillups on that F***er and he would never walk again.

BIG_DADDY
10-12-2006, 04:27 PM
Not the same thing BD, your neighbors dad was not charged with your safety. If I entrusted my son to the coaches care, and the coach intentionally tried to disable him I would pull a Lawrence phillups on that F***er and he would never walk again.

and I wouldn't blame you.

B2chiefsfan
10-12-2006, 04:29 PM
Just give this guy a good ol' fashion beat down, ban him from any activites with children, and call it good.

Easy 6
10-12-2006, 04:30 PM
To INTENTIONALLY aim to hurt any kid, let alone a disabled one is so disgusting i could puke. When "people" do that shit to dogs they go to jail, so i have no prob with this bastards sentence. He was there to enrich the minds and spirits of young men...what did he teach them???

BIG_DADDY
10-12-2006, 04:32 PM
Just give this guy a good ol' fashion beat down, ban him from any activites with children, and call it good.

Take him to the 90 MPH batting cages and tie him to the fence jackass style and fill the kids pockets with quarters.

BWillie
10-12-2006, 04:32 PM
This is ridiculous. He should get like two months for that. Six years? What? If it wasn't so publicized and people weren't completely crazy when it came to weird morals then this wouldn't of happen.

When I talk about messed up morals I talk about how a guy can rob a gas station at gun point and get like a year, but if a guy tells a kid to bean another kid with a 25 mph fastball he gets six years. Makes me sick.

2112
10-12-2006, 04:36 PM
Take him to the 90 MPH batting cages and tie him to the fence jackass style and fill the kids pockets with quarters.
Better yet..make sure his nut sack gets entangled between the 2 roller things that shoots the ball out at the batting cage..

Easy 6
10-12-2006, 04:37 PM
This is ridiculous. He should get like two months for that. Six years? What? If it wasn't so publicized and people weren't completely crazy when it came to weird morals then this wouldn't of happen.

When I talk about messed up morals I talk about how a guy can rob a gas station at gun point and get like a year, but if a guy tells a kid to bean another kid with a 25 mph fastball he gets six years. Makes me sick.
I watched a guy on Animal Planet get 4 months for abusing a DOG, this guy did it to an autistic BOY...A PERSON.

BIG_DADDY
10-12-2006, 04:37 PM
To INTENTIONALLY aim to hurt any kid, let alone a disabled one is so disgusting i could puke. When "people" do that shit to dogs they go to jail, so i have no prob with this bastards sentence. He was there to enrich the minds and spirits of young men...what did he teach them???

That's not a very good comparison. With animals they usually only go after them with jail time if it involves torure, mutilation and killing. Far cry from having a 6 year old bean you with a baseball, how bad could that really hurt.

Funny thing is I feel like I am defending the guy and that's the last thing I want to do. THere is just no way this guy shoud be charged with a felony for that and do 1 to 5 years on it IMO. Felonies were initially supposed to be reserved for only the worst crimes now we hand them out like their parking tickets.

BIG_DADDY
10-12-2006, 04:40 PM
I watched a guy on Animal Planet get 4 months for abusing a DOG, this guy did it to an autistic BOY...A PERSON.

He got beaned by a 6 year old it's not like he had Nolan Ryan bean him with a fastball. Please define the abuse in that case because most of those clowns who do horrible things to their dogs only get a fine and lose the animal.

mdstu
10-12-2006, 04:45 PM
That's not a very good comparison. With animals they usually only go after them with jail time if it involves torure, mutilation and killing. Far cry from having a 6 year old bean you with a baseball, how bad could that really hurt.

Funny thing is I feel like I am defending the guy and that's the last thing I want to do. THere is just no way this guy shoud be charged with a felony for that and do 1 to 5 years on it IMO. Felonies were initially supposed to be reserved for only the worst crimes now we hand them out like their parking tickets.

I feel your pain.

I guess everyone has their own opinion about what deserves more punishment.

Example: I am baffled that Corporate crimes that affect the health and welfare of thousands of innocent people usually end with a six month sentence in a luxury suite, if not at home. While small drug possessions can sometimes end in three year prison terms.

Easy 6
10-12-2006, 04:47 PM
Its almost not even about the "been" its about the morals behind it and what kind of example it set for impressionable kids.......the guy caved in his dogs sinus passages and blinded it with beatings. Yes a higher level of abuse.......but IMHO coaches at that age should exemplify the finest ambitions of sport.

CoMoChief
10-12-2006, 04:48 PM
That autistic kid must have been a damn good ball player.


Personally I see nothing wrong with the coach doing that.






j/k I'm just being an ass.

BIG_DADDY
10-12-2006, 05:03 PM
I feel your pain.

I guess everyone has their own opinion about what deserves more punishment.

Example: I am baffled that Corporate crimes that affect the health and welfare of thousands of innocent people usually end with a six month sentence in a luxury suite, if not at home. While small drug possessions can sometimes end in three year prison terms.

Amen brother. That baffles everyone. There really isn't justice in this country. I think most people with an IQ above 15 can clearly see that. We have a nanny out here who shook a baby two years ago so bad it's head is still swollen inside it's skull and it still has black eyes and she is facing less time than Mr. Bean Ball. In the meantime the country is spending millions trying to extradite some some guy out of Canada for selling pot seeds and they want him to face a life sentence. The problem is there is a lot of good cops out there that are going to start facing the rath of a society that knows there is no justice anymore. It's like **** you cop BANG. It's only going to get worse.

Halfcan
10-12-2006, 05:16 PM
What a piece of shit.

HemiEd
10-12-2006, 05:37 PM
The guy's an idiot, but that sentence is way too harsh. He should've been fined, given a couple of nights in jail, and banned from coaching again.

I agree, a wife and four kids need to be provided for.

HemiEd
10-12-2006, 05:38 PM
That autistic kid must have been a damn good ball player.


Personally I see nothing wrong with the coach doing that.

.

That was fun to laugh, thanks. ROFL ROFL

BWillie
10-12-2006, 07:00 PM
That autistic kid must have been a damn good ball player.


Personally I see nothing wrong with the coach doing that.






j/k I'm just being an ass.


You PLAY to WIN the game! HELLO!!!?

Fishpicker
10-12-2006, 08:01 PM
The guy's an idiot, but that sentence is way too harsh. He should've been fined, given a couple of nights in jail, and banned from coaching again.

what he did goes beyond idiocy. that was really malicious and foul. that sentence was entirely too light. And the sentence will be commuted anyway.

jiveturkey
10-12-2006, 08:25 PM
I agree, a wife and four kids need to be provided for.
Unless the charges are drug related. :p

stevieray
10-12-2006, 08:41 PM
That guy needs his ass kicked big time.

Halfcan
10-12-2006, 08:44 PM
That guy needs his ass kicked big time.
Yep-a baseball bat to the nuts would work also.