Red Sox Embroiled With Sexual Abuse Claims
BOSTON (WFAN/AP) — A man who had his "dream job" working in the Red Sox clubhouse as a teenager says that ended abruptly when the clubhouse manager sexually assaulted him.
Charles Crawford is one of two Massachusetts men accusing Donald Fitzpatrick of abusing them in the early 1990s. The other is a former batboy who is keeping his identity anonymous.
Crawford said at a news conference Monday that Fitzpatrick assaulted him twice in the clubhouse at Fenway Park.
The statute of limitations has expired for filing a lawsuit or seeking criminal charges against Fitzpatrick, who died in 2005. Both men are asking for $5 million settlements.
In 2002, Fitzpatrick pleaded guilty in Florida to attempted sexual battery on a child under 12. The following year, the team settled a lawsuit with seven Florida men who said Fitzpatrick molested them during spring training beginning in the 1970s.
The New York Daily News reports that Red Sox team executives have agreed to meet with Crawford's attorney Mitchell Garabedian to "resolve this matter." Garabedian expects that additional victims will come forward with further claims against Fitzpatrick.
"It would not be surprising if other victims come forward. Fitzpatrick was a serial pedophile," Garabedian told The Daily News.
The Red Sox took action against Fitzpatrick in 1991 when they became aware of the situation by relieving him of his clubhouse duties. Red Sox counselman Daniel Goldberg spoke about the matter to The Boston Globe.
"The Red Sox have always viewed the actions of Mr. Fitzpatrick to be abhorrent. When the team, then under a previous ownership group, became aware of the allegations against Mr. Fitzpatrick in 1991, he was promptly relieved of his duties. The club is unaware of any specifics regarding the matters brought forward recently by two individuals,'' Goldberg stated.
Previously, the Red Sox paid $100,000 to a former clubhouse attendant who displayed a banner in front of television cameras reading "Donald Fitzpatrick Sexually Assaulted Me" during a 1991 West Coast trip. More recently, the Red Sox reached a 2003 settlement for $3.15 million with seven accusers after Fitzpatrick was found guilty in 2002 for attempted sexual battery during Spring Training in the early 1970's.
Garabedian successfully sued the Archdiocese of Boston and Reverend John Geoghan for $95 million after a well-documented sexual abuse scandal.
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