Little League sets background checks for volunteers

Wednesday, October 9th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

STATE COLLEGE, Pennsylvania (AP) -- All Little League managers, coaches and volunteers will be checked against state lists of convicted sex offenders under a sweeping new policy the baseball league said Tuesday is a first for a national youth sports organization.

"We want to let anyone who would prey upon kids in the Little League program know that they're not welcome and we're going to do what we can to keep them out," said Stephen Keener, president of Little League Baseball Inc.

Little League has advised local leagues to do background checks on volunteers since 1996, when USA Baseball, the national governing body for amateur baseball, recommended background checks for youth baseball organizations.

Keener 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 and the District of Columbia, such information can be obtained free over the Internet or from local law enforcement agencies. Local Little League organizations would be have to pay for criminal background checks in the seven other states -- Connecticut, Maine, Missouri, New Hampshire, Oregon, Pennsylvania and South Dakota.