A Roslindale coach who for years ran a youth baseball league that played in Jamaica Plain was charged this week with “grooming” a child for sex.
Jose Ortega, 41, was the “commissioner” of the Hyde Park-based Boston Broncos, which appears to have been active since 1999 and at times used a JP mailing address. Games were held at the Agassiz Elementary and English High fields, and the league at times operated a program at the Curtis Hall Community Center, as described on the league’s MySpace page.
Ortega pleaded not guilty this week to charges involving claims that he asked an unidentified boy under age 16 to have sex with him, shower with him, and deliver “sexualized” photos. Prosecutors say that Ortega used an offer to play in the Boston Broncos as a cover for the alleged attempted seduction.
Police and prosecutors are “reviewing other, similar allegations [against Ortega] that have come to light in recent days,” according to the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office. Ortega has not been charged in any other case.
The Boston Broncos were only officially incorporated in 2007 and lost their corporate status in June after failing to file annual reports for years, according to Brian McNiff, a spokesperson for the Secretary of State’s Office. The loss of the status came after a regular review of organizations that failed to file and had nothing to do with the criminal investigation of Ortega, McNiff said.