Torres Questions Linger as Town Meets in Public Tuesday

The meets in public Tuesday for the first time since Rusty Torres, the town's longtime employee, was charged with

Among the lingering questions in the Torres scandal is whether the town did a background check on Torres before hiring him in 2002 as the town's baseball coach. who served five years probation for a cocaine-related conviction dating to 1985. The town has also not clarified its hiring practices regarding other potential convicted felons.

In his decade-long role as the town's baseball coach, Torres was in contact with thousands of children, town and police officials said. The former major leaguer served as a hitting coach for numerous youth baseball organizations, conducting clinics and seminars. The year-round position, which included indoor instruction sessions during the winter, paid about $83,000 annually.

Town officials have not returned repeated phone calls since Friday to address specific questions about Torres' employment. Phyllis Barry, a spokeswoman for the town, was in meetings all day Monday and unavailable to comment, workers in the town's public information office said.

The town did issue a public statement after the allegations came to light last week, saying Torres was suspended without pay from his position and his coaching clinics are cancelled. The statement said the town is cooperating with police in the investigation.

Torres was arrested May 7 in Plainview after he was confronted by police and made about his actions involving the 8-year-old girl. Those incidents took place inside a town-owned van used by Torres to travel to his clinics, according to Nassau Police. A subsequent felony complaint released by police contained graphic descriptions of the two alleged attacks on the child.

That complaint, which makes reference to physical evidence and contains detailed statements from the victim and Torres, is attached to this article (Warning: graphic content.)

It is not clear whether  or others on the town board will address any aspect of the issue when they meet in routine public session Tuesday at 10 a.m. Today's meeting is the town board's regularly scheduled session of the month. Several resolutions related to Allen Park are on the agenda.

Torres, 63, is charged in He has been a The North Massapequa man's town position coaching youth league sports was the only such position in the town for any sport, Barry said previously.