Former kids baseball coach accused of sex abuse now charged in rape of 8-year-old girl

One day after a former youth baseball coach was accused of sexually assaulting a teen boy, police charged him in the repeated rapes of an 8-year-old girl.

The rapes were discovered March 21, a day after Jeromy Paul Baum, 46, of Halifax in Dauphin County, was arrested in connection with the sexual assault of a 15-year-old boy at the teen’s home, according to police.

The incident involving the teen boy occurred March 19 at the teen’s home in Perry County, according to court records. Police arrested Baum outside the boy’s home on March 20. That arrest prompted the mother of a child to whom Baum had access in 2014 to talk to her daughter about sexual violence. That’s when the girl began crying uncontrollably and disclosed Baum had raped her when she was eight to nine years old at her home in Perry County, police wrote in charging documents filed against Baum.

Police interviewed the girl who said she met Baum when she was 8. Her mom worked the overnight shift and that’s when Baum would sneak into her room and rape her, despite her telling him no. This happened over several months into 2015 until her mom no longer worked midnights, according to court documents.

She told police Baum threatened to hurt her and asked her not to say anything because he would get into trouble, according to court records. She said she never told anyone because she was scared of Baum, police said.

Police charged Baum with rape of a child and related offenses. He previously was charged on March 20 with deviate sexual intercourse, corruption of minors and unlawful contact with a minor in connection to the assault of the 15-year-old boy. He remained in jail Monday with a bail set for $1.5 million.

Baum coached the Shermans Dale Blue Jays about 10-15 years ago in the West Perry Youth Baseball Association. He recently moved to Dauphin County.

State police believe Baum may have sexually abused other children. Anyone with information can call the state police’s Newport barracks at 717-567-3110.

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