Ex-Baseball Coach Fails to Show Up at Court in Abuse Case

A former Fairfax County youth baseball coach, accused of molesting a 12-year-old boy in 1997, failed to appear for his scheduled guilty plea last week, and Fairfax police said Wednesday they are actively searching for him.

John E. Hamilton, 38, of Centreville coached in the Fort Hunt Youth Athletic Association in the 1990s. In February, a 24-year-old man approached police and reported that he had been sexually assaulted during a four-month period in 1997, when Hamilton lived in the Belle View area of southern Fairfax, police said. Hamilton was arrested in May and charged with aggravated sexual battery and three counts of taking indecent liberties with a child by a person in a supervisory relationship.

Court records show that Hamilton was indicted by a Fairfax grand jury in August, and had agreed to enter guilty pleas Oct. 7. He did not appear, and police suspect he might have left the area. A warrant was issued for Hamilton's arrest, and police said Fairfax Deputy Commonwealth's Attorney Ian M. Rodway had authorized extradition for Hamilton from anywhere in the country.