Former Hamilton teacher, youth baseball coach pleads guilty to sexual interference

WARNING: This article contains graphic content and may affect those who have experienced​ ​​​sexual violence or know someone affected by it.

A former public school teacher and baseball coach in Hamilton who worked for years with the Toronto Blue Jays' youth academy, among other groups, has pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual interference. 

Both counts involve children under the age of 14.

John Hashimoto was initially charged with numerous sex charges in 2021.

The 59-year-old worked with several baseball organizations, including the Toronto Blue Jays Baseball Academy, and taught at Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board.

He stood in a Burlington courthouse Thursday wearing a dark suit where Crown prosecutor Mike Godinho read an agreed statement of facts.

CBC Hamilton can't identify the victims, who were minors at the time of the incidents, due to a publication ban.

Godinho said Hashimoto was a Grade 4 teacher at Dr. J.E. Davey Elementary School in Hamilton during the early 1990s.

Hashimoto would call a student up to his desk under the guise of reviewing his work.

Godinho said Hashimoto would move closer to the student, touching and rubbing the 10-year-old over top of his clothes.

"He hid his hand using the paperwork. The touching wasn't accidental and was for a sexual purpose," Godinho said.

Hashimoto later invited the victim onto a soccer team unaffiliated with the school board.

On one occasion, Hashimoto invited the student to his home on the Hamilton Mountain.

Hashimoto started wrestling the student inside his living room before telling the student he'd show him a wrestling move.

"He put his hand on [the victim]... over top of the clothing," Godinho said.

Godinho said Hashimoto was a volunteer baseball