Chad David Curtis, born on November 6, 1968, is an American former professional baseball outfielder who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1992 to 2001. He played for the California Angels, Detroit Tigers, Los Angeles Dodgers, Cleveland Indians, New York Yankees, and Texas Rangers. However, his career took a dark turn when he was convicted of sexually assaulting three underage female students while working at Lakewood High School in Lake Odessa, Michigan.
Чад Кертис в форме "Нью-Йорк Янкиз"
Early Career and Achievements
Curtis made his major-league debut in 1992, playing in 139 games at all three outfield positions. In 1993, Curtis hit .285 with six home runs and 59 runs batted in, but led the league with 24 times caught stealing. He also led all AL outfielders in errors, with nine. In the strike-shortened 1994 season, Curtis played in 114 games, batting .256 while hitting 11 home runs with 50 runs batted in.
During his first season as a Tiger, Curtis hit .268 with 21 homers and 67 runs batted in, while leading the American League with 670 plate appearances. In 1996, Curtis played in 104 games, hitting .263 with 10 home runs and 37 runs batted in. Curtis played in 43 games with the Dodgers, hitting just .212 with only nine runs batted in. During the 1996 postseason, Curtis was 0-for-3 in his only game played.
In 1997 with the Yankees, Curtis hit .291 with 12 home runs and 50 runs batted in. In the postseason he went 1-for-6 with 3 walks and 1 strikeout. In 1998, Curtis hit .243 with 10 home runs and 56 runs batted in during the Yankees' 114-win regular season. In the 1998 American League Division Series, Curtis was 2-for-3 with a run scored and a stolen base. In the 1998 AL Championship Series, he was 0-for-4 with a walk and a strikeout.
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In 1999, Curtis played in just 99 games, hitting .262 with five home runs and 24 runs batted in. Curtis played all four games of the 1999 World Series in left field. He is best known for hitting a walk-off home run in Game 3 of the series against the Atlanta Braves; it was his second home run of the game.
On December 13, 1999, the Yankees traded Curtis to the Texas Rangers for pitchers Brandon Knight and Sam Marsonek. During the 2000 season, Curtis became the first right-handed batter to hit a home run into the upper deck in right field at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. Curtis played in 108 games that year, hitting .272 with 8 home runs and 48 runs batted in. In 2001, he hit .252 with 3 home runs and 10 runs batted in just 38 games.
Downfall and Legal Troubles
During the 2010-11 school year, Curtis began substitute teaching and volunteering in the Lakewood Public Schools (Lake Odessa, Michigan) weight room. Along with coaching youth baseball, in 2011 Curtis coached the Lakewood Public Schools equestrian team, which included two of his daughters.
Curtis married his college sweetheart, the former Candace Reynolds, in 1990. On August 16, Curtis was found guilty on all six counts, including third-degree criminal sexual conduct (a crime that involves sexual penetration). In an hour-long address to the court, Curtis accused all his victims of lying; he claimed that they made unwelcome sexual advances to him.
The Barry County, Michigan Prosecutor Julie Nakfoor Pratt later stated that Curtis' sentencing statement "was the most selfish, self-serving, victim-blaming statement I've heard in my career as a prosecutor. ... I'm floored that I misjudged the character of a man so horribly. Perhaps I was blinded with the mantle of righteous moral authority he always tried to wear and never looked deeper."
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On October 3, 2013, former major league outfielder Chad Curtis was sentenced to seven to 15 years in prison for inappropriately touching teenage girls. Curtis was sentenced in Michigan by Barry County Circuit Judge Amy McDowell, who called the two-time World Series champion a "predator."
According to prosecutors, Curtis, 44, sexually assaulted the girls last year when he was a volunteer weight-room strength trainer at a high school in Barry County, located between Grand Rapids and Lansing. A 16-year-old girl said he touched and kissed her breasts. Two 15-year-old girls said Curtis inappropriately touched their buttocks.
"You certainly are a threat to any community you get into," McDowell told Curtis.
One of the girls spoke during the sentencing hearing, saying Curtis was a manipulator who knew what he had done.
In a 2014 federal civil lawsuit filed against Curtis by his three victims in the criminal sexual conduct case and by a fourth Lakewood High School student accuser with similar claims, Curtis was found liable for battery against all four girls. A former Lakewood Public Schools board member who had started a group ministry with Curtis, Brian Potter, revealed for the first time in a 2015 deposition that Curtis had admitted to him in May 2012 that Curtis kissed one of the victims and had been "inappropriate".
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Lakewood Public Schools' Involvement
Four young women who alleged former Major League Baseball player Chad Curtis inappropriately touched them have settled their federal lawsuit against a school district in western Michigan for $575,000. The settlement with the Lakewood Public Schools and its board of education was announced last week. The Grand Rapids Press obtained details through a Freedom of Information request.
The women allege Curtis inappropriately touched them when they attended Lakewood High in Barry County. He was a volunteer coach in the weight room. Curtis was convicted of criminal sexual conduct in 2013 and is in prison. The settlement doesn't include claims against the 48-year-old Curtis.
Mike O'Mara, superintendent of Lakewood Public Schools, evaluated the district's handling of the allegations, including the hiring, monitoring and terminating of Curtis, and how the school dealt with the victims and their concerns. O'Mara determined that administrators followed established policies in the school handbook, according to a report obtained by MLive and The Grand Rapids Press with a Freedom of Information Act request.
He said the school district cooperated with police and worked to address harassment of the victims. The report said administrators met with victims and their families, monitored social media and talked to students accused of harassing the victims. Principal Brian Williams even told the Curtis family they were banned from school events after one of the victims was uncomfortable with Curtis' daughter attending an athletic event.
According to the civil rights complaint filed this week: "Even after the Curtis's family had been banned from Lakewood's campus, members of Lakewood's staff and faculty helped the Curtis family sneak into Lakewood's graduation ceremony where they posed for pictures with Lakewood graduates that were later posted on social media, some by teachers and staff who helped the Curtis family sneak in."
Curtis started working as a volunteer instructor in the weight room in spring 2010. He became a substitute teacher in fall 2010 and volunteer softball coach the following spring. He underwent an interview as athletic director but was not selected. He was hired as head varsity football coach, selected on his second attempt with vocal support of the community, O'Mara wrote.
The district suspended Curtis after police began an investigation and he resigned a week later after O'Mara banned him from the high school, the report showed.
The filing with the Department of Education says school board members and the administration offered Curtis support both privately, in electronic messages and prayer sessions, and publicly, providing letters of support for the judge to consider when sentencing Curtis.
"Chad Curtis, a former Major League Baseball player, was revered at Lakewood both for his celebrity, and for the persona as a 'man of faith' he perpetuated at the school, and at a nearby church where he and at least one board member were congregants," Fierberg wrote.
Fierberg said the principal and assistant principal on separate occasions found Curtis alone in a training room with complainants but neither looked into "the patently inappropriate situation," the filing said. The filing says Lakewood was obligated to conduct its own Title IX investigation. 'Of all the information I have gathered, I believe the school did its best to protect itself and its staff members. But I believe the administrators has done very little to prevent this from happening again and I have many concerns.
All of them were involved in sports. One of them, a volleyball player, asked to miss a day of tryouts because she had to testify at Curtis' trial. She was told she had to attend tryouts in order to make the team. Another quit track because teammates supported Curtis' daughter, also a runner. Another transferred to another school, but said she continued to be harassed over social media. A fourth graduated the year the allegations came out.
Potter, the school board member, wrote Curtis in a text message: "Some words of encouragement that have been running through my mind. You have lived and continue to live a righteous life that no (one), or no words can take away. Nothing can separate you from our father. Just want to let you and Candace know that Teresa and I are thinking of you guys and praying for both and your family,'" the filing said.
After Curtis was convicted of charges related to three of the victims, Potter, who provided a character reference on Curtis' behalf, wrote Curtis' wife: "Chad informed me that you had thought you saw me sitting with the accusers during sentencing.
Financial Implications and Legal Battles Continue
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- Former MLB player Chad Curtis says the young women who accuse him of sexual misconduct at a Michigan high school are looking for a payday. Curtis made the remarks Monday by video from a Michigan prison where he's serving a seven-year sentence for criminal sexual conduct. He's being sued in federal court by the same women who say they were molested as students when he worked at Lakewood High School in 2011. Curtis is representing himself in the civil lawsuit. Much of the hearing involved procedures for upcoming depositions.
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) - Former major league baseball player Chad Curtis has told a judge he's down to $39 and "nine noodles in my cell" as he defends himself in a civil lawsuit against young women who accuse him of sexual misconduct at a high school. Curtis is in prison for criminal sexual conduct at Lakewood High School in western Michigan, where he worked. Curtis says he has "truth" on his side and can't afford a lawyer.
In May 2018, a federal lawsuit was filed by one of Curtis' victims, claiming that Curtis transferred nearly all his money and assets to his ex-wife, Candace Curtis, in an effort to avoid court-ordered payouts to his victims. In January 2019, Chad Curtis' ex-wife loses bankruptcy protection in his $1.8M judgment for sex assaults.
Timeline of Key Events
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1992-2001 | Chad Curtis plays in MLB for various teams |
| 2010-2011 | Curtis begins volunteering at Lakewood Public Schools |
| 2012 | Curtis is arrested and charged with criminal sexual conduct |
| 2013 | Curtis is convicted and sentenced to 7-15 years in prison |
| 2017 | Lakewood Public Schools settles lawsuit with Curtis' victims for $575,000 |
Chad Curtis Jim Gray interview 1999 World Series
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