Softball Coach Charged With Fondling Player
A South Florida softball coach is behind bars after fondling one of his players,
police say. Theodore Dudash (pictured, right), 55, coached girls' softball for the
Optimist Club at Rotary Park in Hollywood. He's accused in three different incidents of
lewd and lascivious acts on a 12-year-old girl.
"I didn't say anything about this because I was hoping it was all just an
accident," the victim states in the police report. The girl said after the third
incident it was time to speak.
Police say Dudash fondled the girl's breast while pretending to show her how to swing a
bat.
Police say that Dudash fondled the victim on two different occasions and exposed himself
to her in another incident after he had given the victim's younger brother a ride home
from a game.
Dudash was arrested in Fort Lauderdale 12 years ago on similar charges. Sexual predator
laws on the books now didn't exist then. That may have made it easier for Dudash to work
with children since information about his past may not have been as easily accessible as
the backgrounds of those individuals classified as sexual predators since the law was
enacted.
Channel 10 News is trying to contact the Optimist Club to find out their standards for
hiring people who work with children.
Dudash, with his attorney, surrendered to authorities and is now in the Broward County
Jail. Child exploitation detectives think that there could be other victims.
Source: http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/wplg/20020327/lo/1134127_1.html