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His players idolized him, and their parents trusted him with their children. This morning, some of those parents used other words to describe Louis Spadaccini, who led the baseball team at Ss. John Neumann and Maria Goretti High School, 1736 S. 10th St., since 2008, such as “conniving child molester” and “pedophile.”
After pleading guilty Sept. 26, ’12, Spadaccini, 38, of the 2600 block of South Iseminger Street, was sentenced to a negotiated deal of 12 to 24 years behind bars plus five years on probation for drugging two boys and molesting one of them. While the state’s Department of Corrections has not yet assigned him to a state institution, Chester County’s Judge Ronald C. Nagle agreed to recommend Chester state prison, where he could be closer to his family and receive drug and alcohol treatment.
“I just want to tell everyone in this room how truly sorry I am for my actions,” Spadaccini said when addressing the court. “I tried my whole life to help people and I honestly failed in a big way.”
Police first arrested Spadaccini Sept. 19, ’11, the day after he gave a Neumann-Goretti incoming freshman, then 14, alcohol, including an orange soda, vodka and Xanax blend. Upon the boy’s parents’ insistence, Spadaccini returned the youngster, who was still intoxicated, to his residence about four hours later. The boy’s parents took him to the hospital where he stayed for 36 hours and tests showed benzodiazepines in his blood.
Spadaccini was arrested the next night and posted bail. However, a then-13-year-old boy came forward Sept. 20, ’11, noting the former coach had given him mixed drinks and abused him on three separate
occasions that summer. “I think Coach Lou deserves to be in jail for life for what he did ’cause when you hurt me, I was helpless and couldn’t do anything,” the boy who was assaulted wrote in his victim impact statement that Assistant District Attorney Joseph McGlynn read to the court as the now 15-year-old stood at his side. “And now I think it’s fair that you should be helpless and not be able to do anything. I don’t think he should ever get out of jail, but if he does, he shouldn’t be allowed to be near kids.”
For years, the boy looked forward to when he would join the Saints’ baseball team, but after Spadaccini’s abuse, he decided against enrolling at the East Passyunk Crossing institution, his mother told the court.
“Today, my son is a hero,” she said. “My son saved many other boys and families from Coach Lou.”
The Review has omitted victims’ and their parents’ names to protect their identities.
For more details on his sentencing, check back for the Review’s Feb. 7 issue.
Contact Managing Editor Amanda L. Snyder at asnyder@southphillyreview.com or ext. 117.
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