San Jose-area baseball coach sentenced for molestation

A judge has sentenced a longtime San Francisco Bay Area youth baseball coach convicted of molesting children to nearly 11 years in prison.

The San Jose Mercury News reported that 53-year-old Joel Kaufman was sentenced Monday after he pleaded guilty to four counts of felony child molestation.

Kaufman had coached at Oakland’s Bishop O’Dowd High School and Palo Alto High School in addition to having led Little League and youth traveling teams.

The abuse for which Kaufman was convicted occurred from 2005-2012, though during the investigation numerous accusers came forward detailing abuse over a 30-year period.

At the time of his arrest, Kaufman was coaching an 18-and-under traveling team out of San Jose called the California Smoke.