FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) -Former major league outfielder Mel Hall is on trial on sexual assault charges, accused of repeated advances on a 12-year-old girl he coached on an elite basketball team a decade ago.
Hall’s accuser, now 23, took the stand Monday in a Fort Worth courtroom. She said Hall engaged in sex acts with her in various places, including her home and Hall’s apartment. Defense attorneys for the 48-year-old Hall were to present their case Tuesday.
Hall was arrested in 2007 by police in a Fort Worth suburb investigating allegations of sexual abuse. He faces up to life in prison on three counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child and two counts of indecency with a child.
Hall’s 13-year major league career ended in 1996. He played for the Chicago Cubs, Cleveland Indians, New York Yankees and San Francisco Giants.
at home, when their parents were away. The boy testified that he thought they were playing a game and never told his parents.
Hall’s interaction with the girl progressed to inappropriate touching and him instructing her how to perform oral sex, she testified. She said he also showed her pornographic movies at an apartment Hall shared with his girlfriend and their infant son.
“I trusted him,” the woman testified. “I honestly had no idea anything was inappropriate at the time. I looked up to him. I just thought this is how normal people act.”
The investigation also involved a 14-year-old girl who played on the team. Hall faces charges in that case. A trial is pending.
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