Crystal Lake coach appears in court on child porn charges

Leaders of the Crystal Lake Babe Ruth Baseball League remain shaken after one of the league's former coaches appeared in court Tuesday on charges of possessing child pornography.

Marcus J. Sabo, 41, a volunteer coach with the organization for more than 10 years, was charged in March after an Illinois State Police investigation found him to be in possession of 60 pornographic images of children, officials said.

“The Board of the Crystal Lake Babe Ruth Baseball League is individually and as an organization upset and shocked by the news that Marc Sabo, a volunteer director and manager with the league, faces charges of possessing child pornography on his personal computer. These charges are based on activities that occurred during his own personal and private time,” said a statement issued Tuesday night by Rick Reilly, the president of Crystal Lake Babe Ruth Baseball.

The league first learned of the charges against Sabo in March and severed ties with him at its next board meeting in early April, said Bill Bligh, an attorney representing the baseball league.

The images are not believed be of any local children, Bligh said.

“We haven't seen the images and don't know what they are, but to the best of our communication with law enforcement, they are not any of our players or anybody from the area,” Bligh said.

The charges were a surprise to the organization's leaders, who had no issues with Sabo during his time as a coach.

“During Marc's tenure, we have not been aware of complaints against him related to any of these charges. No one on our board had any knowledge or reports of inappropriate interactions between Marc Sabo and athletes,” Reilly said.

Sabo remains in the McHenry County jail on $12,500 bond. He's expected in court again at 9 a.m. Nov. 12.