Little League to check for sex offenders
By Rod Ohira
Advertiser Staff Writer
Little League presidents in Hawai'i must enforce a new national league rule requiring background checks to ensure managers, coaches and volunteers are not convicted sex offenders.
The national organization announced the sweeping new policy yesterday and said coaches must be checked against states' lists of convicted sex offenders. Little League said the new policy is a first for a national youth sports organization.
"I'm not opposed to it," said Bob Kawamoto, District I (Windward O'ahu-Kaua'i) administrator. "It's a lot of humbug for leagues. But we need to realize the fact that no matter what you do, background checks are not going to be 100 percent."
Kawamoto pointed to the Mark Heyd case as an example.
Heyd, 46, a longtime Kainalu Little League Major Division baseball team coach, pleaded guilty earlier this year to nine felony counts of sexual assault on a 12-year-old boy. He is scheduled to be sentenced this month.
"He coached many, many years and there was never a sign," Kawamoto said. "Headquarters is not telling us managers, coaches or volunteers with sex or child abuse convictions cannot coach. It'll be up to the leagues to determine that."
Stephen Keener, president of Little League Baseball Inc., said the decision to make background checks mandatory was partly a response to the sex-abuse scandal in the Roman Catholic Church. Another factor was the ready availability of sex-offender registries.
In 43 states, including Hawai'i, and the District of Columbia, such information can be obtained for free.
There are eight Little League districts in Hawai'i, but only six are active.
District I is comprised of eight leagues, two each in Kailua and Kane'ohe, and one in Kainalu, Kahalu'u, Ko'olau Loa and Kaua'i. The new rule also applies to Little League girls softball, which is played in District I. Other leagues are on Maui (District 3), the Big Island (District 4), 'Aiea (District 6), Waipio-Waipahu-Pearl City-Waialua (District 7) and 'Ewa to Makaha (District 8).
"Actually, up to last year, background checks were optional," said District 7 administrator Betty Nago, who has been involved with Little League for 30 years. "If we have to pay a fee for them, I don't know who's going to pay for it."
Hawai'i does not have a state commissioner and both Kawamoto and Nago agree it's a league responsibility. "They've got to police it themselves," Nago said.
The recommended procedure for Hawai'i, according to Little League headquarters in Williamsport, Pa., is for each league to submit a written request with name, Social Security number, gender and date of birth for each person to the Hawai'i Criminal Justice Data Center, c/o Liane Moriyama, Criminal History Record Checks Unit, 465 S. King St., Room 101, Honolulu, HI 96813.
For free background checks, leagues need to submit written proof of their tax-exempt status with a 501C3 form from the Internal Revenue Service. Otherwise, there is a $15 charge per background check.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
