BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. — A 57-year-old Little League coach arrested Friday on 10 counts of possession of child pornography has been released from Brevard County Jail on bail.
Ronald Harvey Sellers, 57, is accused of having multiple images on his computer of children being sexually abused. Sellers is also an employee of the Florida Department of Corrections.
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children contacted Brevard County authorities after discovering child pornography being shared online originating from a computer in the county.
Brevard County sheriff’s agents with the Sexual Offender Registration and Tracking Unit tracked the images to a residence. They issued a warrant and found the images on a computer alleged to be Sellers’.
Sellers, who passed a background check to become a coach, has been associated with the Cocoa Little League for four years. No complaints have been lodged against him during that time.
Harry Dockery, a parent and former president of Merritt Island Little League, was surprised about the allegations and said the background check is strict.
“As part of signing off on your charter, you certify all your volunteers with a background check to make sure there’s no crime history behind them. No abuse toward children or anything like that,” he said.
“It is concerning that someone facing such charges had that kind of access to children,” said Brevard County Sheriff’s Maj. Tod Goodyear.
Sellers’ adult daughter, Maryellen Aguilar, came to his defense Thursday, saying he’s a good person and she doesn’t believe any of the allegations against him.
Goodyear said Sellers initially said he didn’t know about the pictures but later said he was doing his own investigation into child pornography.
Conditions of Sellers’ $75,000 bond prohibit him from going near the ball fields.
The Brevard County Sheriff’s Office said Sellers first denied he knew about the images found on his computer, then offered an explanation.
Investigators said more charged against Sellers could be pending after a subsequent investigation revealed more illegal images.
The sheriff’s office hasn’t identified any victims.
WFTV
