Former baseball coach arrested on rape, sex abuse of minor charges, police say

By Tre Ward

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    ARBUTUS, Maryland (WBAL) — A former baseball coach was arrested on second-degree rape and sex abuse of a minor charges, Baltimore County police said.

While the suspect was arrested, investigators said the case is far from closed as they say there could be more victims.

“We’re talking about a master manipulator here who really took advantage of parents who trusted this man with their children,” said Joy Stewart, a spokesperson for the Baltimore County Police Department. “This is a person who surrounded himself with children and had access to prey on them. This is an individual that parents looked at and trusted.”

Police said Melvin Tucker III, 33, who was called “Coach Joe” by his young athletes, sexually assaulted a player while he worked with the Arbutus Recreational League about two years ago.

“Our detectives have been involved in this investigation for quite a while. These cases take a great deal of time, and oftentimes it takes victims a while to come forward,” Stewart said.

While detectives arrested Tucker, investigators said there’s still work to be done on the case, as they believe he may have targeted other children.

“So, we’re asking parents to have that tough conversation, to have an age-appropriate conversation with their children, if they were around this man,” Stewart said. “To think of those parents being taken advantage of, and the children — again, we just want any potential victim to get the necessary help or at least the resources connected with the resources that could help them get through this.”

Anyone with information in this case or others is asked to call police at 410-307-2020.

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