Probation for Vancouver minor leaguer who abused host family’s son

FREDERICK, Md. — The mother of a teenage sexual abuse victim says she once considered the 20 minor league baseball players she welcomed into her home as her sons.

She told a judge in Frederick on Thursday that her trust was betrayed and her host family shattered by former Frederick Keys pitcher Eric Estes.

The 42-year-old Vancouver, Washington, resident was sentenced to five years of probation for abusing the 15-year-old in 1998.

Estes apologized in court. He resigned from his teaching and coaching job at Vancouver’s Skyview High School after pleading guilty in January.

The victim’s mother says she would have preferred that Estes get the maximum 15-year prison sentence. Prosecutors say the age of the case and the fact that Estes has an otherwise clean record led them to recommend probation.

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