At the beginning of this year, authorities in Baldwin County launched an investigation following a young woman’s troubling account to investigators.
“While she was a student at St. Michael Catholic High School she played on the softball team and a softball coach between the years of 2020 and 2021 kind of befriended each other and it led to a more of an intimate relationship from there,” said Baldwin County Sheriff’s investigator Lt. Andy Ashton.
Investigators report that Leonard Rizzuto, 60, and the alleged victim, who was 16 at the time, were engaged in a sexual relationship for over a year. Reports indicate that certain incidents occurred at a practice facility away from campus and at the coach’s residence in Daphne. “It started out as her receiving private lessons and instructions about softball, but then it just escalated from there,” said Ashton.
After seven months of investigation, the alleged victim has now testified before a Grand Jury in Baldwin County. An indictment has been issued against Rizzuto for engaging in sexual contact with a student who is under 19 years old.
“I think this was just something that was just weighing on her conscience for a long period of time,” added Ashton.
Rizzuto was taken into custody on Wednesday afternoon and was released from Baldwin County Jail less than a day later after posting a $15,000 bond. He has been instructed to avoid any contact with the victim or individuals under 18 years old.
Authorities report that no additional students or victims have stepped forward with comparable claims against Rizzuto.
On November 6, he was taken into custody at the Baldwin County Jail and was released on bond today at 11:54 a.m., as per jail records.