By Ivan Pereira
The Rochdale Village Little League coach accused of sexually abusing some of his young athletes has been hit with more serious charges after investigators discovered he allegedly molested more boys, the Queens district attorney’s office said.
David C. Hartshorn, who has been incarcerated without bail since February on several charges, including sexual abuse and endangering the welfare of a child, was indicted June 28 on 52 new counts, including predatory sexual assault, a spokeswoman for the DA’s office said.
With these new charges, Hartshorn, 52, faces a minimum of 10 years to life in prison if convicted, according to the spokeswoman.
He was arrested in February after three of his supposed victims, all of whom were teenagers, talked to their parents about his alleged misdeeds. Hartshorn allegedly abused the boys several times between July 2009 and January, including videotaping the teens performing sexual acts and having them play a twisted game of poker where the loser would perform a sexual act on another boy, according to investigators.
Police seized several child pornographic materials from his home and discovered that there were hidden cameras all over the premises, the DA said.
Detectives said there were several unidentified victims out there who were videotaped by those cameras and they were searching for those boys. The three new victims named in last week’s indictment ranged from 12 to 17, according to the Queens DA’s office.
The spokeswoman for the DA’s office could not say whether investigators were still looking for victims.
Hartshorn served jail time for an endangering the welfare of a child charge in 1989, but there was no sex offender list and the Rochdale Little League administrators did not know about his past, according to detectives.
Due to his latest arrest, the team’s season was cancelled since they could not find a new certified coach.
Reach reporter Ivan Pereira by e-mail at ipereira@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4546.
