Ex-MLB player sentenced to 7-15 years

AP

HASTINGS, Mich. (AP) — Former major league outfielder Chad Curtis was sentenced Thursday 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."

But Curtis, who this summer was found guilty of six counts of criminal sexual conduct, told McDowell Thursday that the three victims lied. He described himself as a Christian servant and said he and one of the victims "could write a book together someday, and it could have a positive impact on a lot of people."

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.

Between 1992 and 2001, Curtis played for the then-California Angels, Detroit Tigers, Los Angeles Dodgers, Cleveland Indians, New York Yankees and Texas Rangers. He won the two World Series rings with the Yankees.