Former minor leaguer due in court on child sex charges

FREDERICK, Md. (AP) -- A high school baseball coach from Vancouver, Washington, is scheduled for a plea hearing in Frederick on charges he sexually abused a 13-year-old boy while living with the boy's family as a minor league baseball player in 1997.

The hearing Thursday for 42-year-old Eric Estes (ESS'-tiss) comes seven months after he was charged with child abuse, third-degree sex offense and attempted second-degree sex offense. Estes is free on bail and on paid administrative leave from his job at Skyview High School in Vancouver.

He previously denied the charges.

The right-handed pitcher lived with a "host family" as a Frederick Keys player from April to September 1997. Such arrangements are common among lower-level minor league players.

The Keys are an advanced Class A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles.