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Dallas Morning News Lewisville, Texas A former major league baseball player could face up to life in prison if convicted on charges that he sexually assaulted two girls he coached on a select basketball team in 1998 and 1999. Melvin Hall Jr., 46, was arrested in Lewisville Thursday and charged by North Richland Hills police. He was released from jail Friday on $35,000 bail and also had an outstanding warrant on a Denton County theft charge. One of the girls was under 17 at the time of the alleged attack, and the other was under 14. The age of the youngest makes the charge an aggravated sexual assault with a possible life sentence. Lt. Larry Irving, a spokesman for North Richland Hills police, said several other local departments have been contacted about the potential for other cases. He said that Lewisville, where Mr. Hall Jr. lives, has been notified, but he would not comment about other jurisdictions. “There could be other victims since he does have access to young girls,” Lt. Irving said. Mr. Hall could not be reached for comment Friday. A phone number for a Melvin Hall Jr. in Lewisville was disconnected, and there was no response to an e-mail sent to his Wicked Sports Association. Mr. Hall spent 13 years in the major leagues, mainly as an outfielder, and later played professional baseball in Japan, according to a biography on Baseball-Reference.com. The site said that Mr. Hall was drafted by the Chicago Cubs in 1978 and also played for the Cleveland Indians, New York Yankees and San Francisco Giants. At least since the late 1990s, Mr. Hall has been involved in youth sports in North Texas and has coached select team players in basketball and softball. The older of the alleged victims, who is now 22, contacted police last month to report an attack she said occurred in 1999, according to an arrest warrant affidavit. She told a detective that she met Mr. Hall in March of that year when he was recruiting girls for his basketball team. After Mr. Hall disbanded the team in July, she said he asked her to babysit for his child at his North Richland Hills home. The woman — who was 14 at the time — told police that when she arrived, Mr. Hall removed her clothes and had intercourse with her on his bed. All the while, he told her how pretty she was, that he loved her and wanted her to be his girlfriend, according to police documents. She told police that she was riding in Mr. Hall’s car a week later and that he parked in a vacant area near what is now the Gaylord Texan resort. He again had intercourse with her again, according to police documents. Lt. Irving said he didn’t know why the woman came forward right now. “She said she didn’t say anything at the time because she was confused and ashamed,” he said. “She didn’t know what to do.” Lt. Irving said that after police heard the woman’s statement, they began talking to other women who were coached by Mr. Hall during that period. The younger woman, who was then 12, told detectives that she met Mr. Hall in 1998 while playing on a select basketball team, according to police documents. During the summer, she told police that Mr. Hall coached her individually and with small groups. That following April, Mr. Hall asked her parents if he could stay with them while his new house in Southlake was being constructed, according to an affidavit. She told police that soon he started entering her room when the house was empty and molested her. “With me being only twelve at the time, I really had no idea what was going on,” she told investigators. The woman, now 21, also told police that Mr. Hall molested her in a Nashville, Tenn. hotel room when her team was traveling to a tournament and at his girlfriend’s North Richland Hills town home, while she was babysitting for the couple’s baby. In some cases, he would fondle and molest her while his girlfriend was asleep or when she went to the store, according to police records. Also, she told detectives that she watched a pornographic movie with the couple on one occasion. Mr. Hall also bought the girl clothes and instructed her to say she loved him, according to the documents. “I wouldn’t say it and when I wouldn’t say it, he would grab me by my face and press really hard against my cheeks until I would say it,” she told a detective. “I finally started saying it because he was beginning to hurt my face.” Because Mr. Hall has coached girls and teams throughout the area, North Richland Hills police are asked for anyone with information about possible victims to call 817-427-7038.Ö Mr. Hall has also been involved in baseball recently. In March, he approached the Frisco parks and recreation department about using a facility in that city so he could host a baseball camp for youth. “However that camp was never held due to low registration,” said city spokeswoman Dana Baird. Mr. Hall had asked a Frisco baseball organization to help manage that camp for young men. An official with the organization said since the camp’s cancellation, they’ve had no contact with Mr. Hall.
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