Man Accuses Eatontown Little League Coach Of Molesting Him In 1986

EATONTOWN, NJ — An adult man has now sued a former Eatontown Little League coach who he says molested him 38 years ago, when he was a boy in the 198os.

The man who filed the lawsuit is James Roe, 50, who now lives in Florida.

The coach is Geoffrey Gex, who coached Eatontown Little League and Pony League in the 1980s.

Roe says the sexual abuse started in 1986, when he was eleven years old and a participant in Eatontown Little League. He also alleges that Eatontown Pony League/Eatontown Baseball League, Inc. "knew or should have known that certain coaches committed acts of sexual abuse of minor participants, or knew or should have known of ... potential incidents of sexual abuse."

The town of Eatontown denies this, and said June 4 in a court filing they had no knowledge at the time sex abuse was happening.

The Asbury Park Press reported that in 1989, Gex was criminally charged with molesting five children on youth baseball teams he coached in Eatontown. Then, shortly after he was arrested, Gex tried to take his own life and he admitted in a suicide note that he molested 20 to 30 children during his time as youth baseball coach, the APP reported. (Gex survived the suicide attempt.)

Gex was convicted of aggravated criminal sexual contact and sexual assault with force. He was sentenced to five years at a sex treatment center in Woodbridge.

Today, Gex, 60, currently resides in Washington state, where he is a registered sex offender.

Roe says that Gex started molesting him in the spring 1986 baseball season, and the abuse continued for the next three years. He says Gex "groomed" him and specifically sought out alone time with him, without sight of parental supervision. He said Gex forced him to perform numerous sexual acts.

He said Gex used his position as a coach/mentor to be alone with boys on the Eatontown Little League, and he sought to gain the boys' trust so he could abuse them.

At the time, Gex was in his 20s and living in Tinton Falls and/or Eatontown.

Roe's lawsuit does not just accuse Gex: Roe says that "by the mid-1970s, numerous coaches, volunteers and other participants in (Eatontown) Little League had committed acts of sexual abuse against minor participants."

He does not mention any other coaches by name.

His lawsuit sued Gex, the town of Eatontown, Eatontown Little League, Eatontown Pony League and John Doe 1-10, who Roe says were volunteers in the league in the '80s.

"Volunteers, and/or employees of the borough of Eatontown; Eatontown Little League; Eatontown Pony League; and/or the Eatontown Baseball League, Inc. knew or should have known that Gex was spending inappropriate time with Plaintiff and that there was a risk of harm that plaintiff (Roe) was being sexually abused by Gex," read his lawsuit. "Despite such actual and/or constructive knowledge of plaintiff’s abuse, the Borough of Eatontown; Eatontown Little League; Eatontown Pony League; and/or the EatontownBaseball League, Inc. failed to take appropriate action to prevent or stop the abuse."

He also said the borough of Eatontown; Eatontown Little League/Pony League/Eatontown Baseball League, Inc., John Does 1-10 "knew or should have known that Gex was a sexual predator."

Roe filed his lawsuit April 29 in Monmouth County Superior Court. He is seeking a trial by jury for financial damages.

On June 4, the borough of Eatontown filed a response to Roe's allegations in the courts. In their response, the town said they had no knowledge of the sex abuse happening in the 1980s, and they denied any such allegations.

"Denied. The borough has no independent and/or firsthand knowledge of the facts and/or allegations ... and must therefore deny it," the town of Eatontown wrote. "The borough does not currently organize, run, supervise or sponsor youth baseball."