FFormer Boston Red Sox pitcher Austin Maddox was arrested in Florida as part of an underage sex sting, authorities announced Monday.
Maddox was one of 27 people arrested as part of a multi-agency operation late last month, Jacksonville Sheriff TK Waters said. They are accused of soliciting sex over the Internet from people they believed to be children, authorities said.
James Hill, Maddox’s defense attorney, said he intends to fight the charges against him and will plead not guilty if formal charges are filed.
Maddox, 33, began communicating with an undercover officer posing as a minor on April 28, an arrest report said. He expressed his intention to have sex with the girl even after she told him she was 14, authorities said.
Maddox agreed to meet the girl at a prearranged location, where he was arrested by officers, authorities said.
He is charged with four felony counts, including traveling to a meeting after using a computer to solicit a child. He is being held on $300,000 bail.
Maddox played in college for the University of Florida and was drafted by the Boston Red Sox in 2012. He made his major league debut with the team in 2017 after several years in the minors. He spent about three months on the Red Sox roster before returning to the minors to recover from shoulder injuries. He was released from the team in 2019.
This story originally appeared on Time.com read the full story
