"Backers call Boston coach a mentor; police say he’s a predator" by Wesley Lowery |
Globe Correspondent, August 31, 2012
Jose Ortega was a legend in the Dominican communities in Hyde Park,
Roslindale, and Jamaica Plain, the cofounder of a booming youth baseball
organization that fielded teams for hundreds of kids from age 7 to 18.
The Boston Broncos, they were called, and their alumni included such
professionals as Nelfi Zapata, a catcher in the New York Mets farm
system.
So when the Broncos’ 41-year-old coach was arrested in July on
charges that he sent sexually suggestive Facebook messages to a
12-year-old on one of his teams, many players and parents rallied to
Ortega’s defense. Some planned to raise money toward his $50,000 bail.
But it turns out Ortega’s supporters did not know the coach nearly as
well as they thought. They didn’t even know his real name. Federal
immigration officials say the man known as Ortega is really Frank Nina, a
convicted cocaine dealer ordered to leave the country six years ago....
News of Ortega’s alleged abuse and criminal past has split the
Dominican community, with loyalists emphasizing his reputation as a
tough but caring mentor, but other parents expressing suspicions about
his motives....
The downfall of Ortega, who faces deportation in addition to criminal
prosecution, threatens to take down the 500-child baseball program he
created amid questions of how a felon and alleged sexual predator could
have been in charge of it. The Internal Revenue Service also confirms
that the program’s tax-exempt status was revoked because team officials
failed to file reports on how they were spending membership fees paid
by parents.
Already, the Broncos team for 12- to 14-year-olds has suspended play,
and the older players were given new uniforms with a new team name
shortly after Ortega’s arrest: They’re now the Roslindale Broncos.
“We came to practice one day and they handed us new uniforms,” said
Kenneth Hernandez, a 14-year-old Broncos player as he warmed up for a
game in late July. “There was no meeting; they just said our name was
now Roslindale.”
Otherwise, officials associated with Broncos baseball are saying as
little as possible....
The consensus among current and former players is that El Brujo was
deeply involved and invested in the lives of his players – inviting boys
to the mall and movies with him, and harshly scolding any misbehavior.
But none of the dozens of players who spoke to the Globe said Ortega had
ever touched or spoken to them inappropriately....
Immigration officials say that Nina came to the United States legally
from the Dominican Republic in 1989. He was arrested in 1998 and
convicted of dealing cocaine in the park at the corner of Armory and
Boylston streets. “His [legal] status was withdrawn as a result of an
aggravated felony conviction for drug trafficking,” said Ross Feinstein,
a spokesman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
However, the drug conviction and threat of deportation did not
prevent Nina, then using the name Jose Ortega, from getting together
with Bello in 1999 to start the Boston Broncos, which now places teams
in various baseball leagues across Massachusetts, including AAU, Babe
Ruth, and Triple Play Baseball. It’s unclear what connection the two men
had prior to starting the Broncos.
Ortega’s program caught fire in the Dominican communities in Hyde
Park, Roslindale, and Jamaica Plain, where baseball is a way of life for
many young boys.
Though a country of just 10 million people, the Dominican Republic
provides more players to Major League Baseball than any foreign country —
95 on opening day this year — including David Ortiz and four others on
the Red Sox roster....
Essentially, the Broncos are no longer a recognized organization,
even though parents pay $150 to $180 a year in registration plus
additional fees for travel to tournaments....
Ortega’s latest problems began at 11:15 p.m. on July 4 — his 41st
birthday — when Boston police received a call from the father of a
12-year-old Broncos player recruited by Ortega in March. The man
provided police with a series of Facebook messages between his son and
the coach, which began March 27.
Prosecutors say Ortega invited the boy to shower at his home and requested naked pictures.
Eleven days later, Ortega, who is not married, was arrested and
charged with four counts of enticement of a child under 16, one count of
unnatural and lascivious acts with a child under 16, and one count of
attempting to commit a crime.
Those close to Ortega maintain he was blindsided by the accusations
and, after a month in custody, is battling depression. He dodged news
cameras during his July 16 arraignment and missed an Aug. 10 court
hearing.
“He doesn’t want to be seen in public with these charges against
him,” William Lane, Ortega’s attorney, told the more than 20 players, coaches, parents,
and community members who attended the hearing, many to offer support.
“I completely trust him,” said Maritza Juliao, a coach of the
Broncos’ 12- to 14-year-old team and mother of two boys coached by
Ortega. “I have never seen anything inappropriate from Jose.”
Juliao said she has allowed both of her sons to travel with Ortega,
who she said has been “like a father” to many of the Broncos players.
Juliao, along with cofounder Julio Bello, has organized letter writing campaigns
in support of Ortega, said parents have organized fund-raisers in
support of the jailed coach.
But Ortega’s case casts a persistent shadow over the Broncos.
Following a game in late July a handful of his former players ran from a
teammate. They shouted, You can’t catch us, Brujo.”
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