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Melvin Joseph Tucker, 34, of Dundalk, was convicted in the Circuit Court for Baltimore County on Monday, Oct. 17, for allegedly sexually abusing a 7-year-old in 2018.
Specifically, Tucker was convicted by a jury of:
- Sexual abuse of a minor;
- Second-degree rape;
- Third-degree sexual offense.
In the spring of 2018, Tucker was a baseball coach for the 7-year-old age group of the baseball program in the Arbutus Recreation Council.
State’s Attorney Scott Shellenberger said that while acting as a coach, Tucker utilized his status to befriend a member of his team and invited him over to his Maryland home for sleepovers.
According to the young victim, the abuse occurred roughly three years ago, while 33-year-old Melvin Tucker III was coaching baseball with the Arbutus Recreational League. The young athletes knew Tucker as “Coach Joe."
“During the second occasion that this young boy was at the home, Tucker sexually abused him. It started while the child was asleep," Prosecutor Lisa Dever said.
According to Law & Crime, "Tucker has a long history of sexually assaulting family members," including alleged assaults when he was a teenager.
"The suspect’s family members detailed his long-time addiction to child pornography,” the agency reported. “The detective learned that Mr. Tucker had sexually assaulted several other of his family members in other jurisdictions. He can no longer be charged with those sexual assaults due to the fact that he was a juvenile at the time of the assaults, and the assaults did not meet the criteria for an automatic waiver to the adult court system.”
When he is sentenced, Tucker faces a minimum of 15 years and a max of up to life in prison. No sentencing date has been set.
“This young man showed incredible courage in coming forward several years later to report what had happened to him,” Shellenberger said. “We owe a duty to protect those who are sexually abused from predators such as this.”
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