Hartshorn
A man once honored as Rochdale Village Little League’s “Coach of the Year” pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting three young boys on various occasions between July 2009 and August 2010 at his home.
According to the Queens District Attorney’s (D.A.) Office, David C. Hartshorn also admitted to filming two other boys engaging in sexual acts with one another, also at his residence.
The 54-year-old was arrested in February 2011 after one of the victim’s mothers alerted police to the abuse. Hartshorn has been held without bail ever since his arrest and is currently awaiting sentencing.
To further illustrate the case against Hartshorn, the D.A.’s Office reported that police found a collection of child porn at his Rochdale Village house, showing young boys engaging in sexual acts, some as young as ten.
In the original criminal complaint against Hartshorn, prosecutors said at one time, “Hartshorn had six boys playing poker at his residence and the loser would have to perform a sexual act on another boy, which the defendant filmed with a camcorder and allowed the other boys to watch live.”
Neighbors told network reporters in February of last year that the now convicted offender’s home was a place where children often hung out.
“I’ve lived here for a long, long…probably my whole life. And I’ve never seen him with a woman and there was always some kind of little kids over here,” said one neighbor.
The Queens Supreme Court Judge who accepted Hartshorn’s guilty plea to one count of first-degree criminal sexual act, two counts of second-degree criminal sexual acts and two counts of use of a child in a sexual performance, indicated Hartshorn and said the coach would receive 18 years in prison at his late September sentencing.
