'Missing' athletics coach jailed in Morocco for sexually assaulting minor
British athletics coach Leon Baptiste has been sentenced to 10 months in prison in Morocco for the sexual assault of a minor. Reports of him being 'missing' were clarified by Moroccan authorities as a custodial sentence following his arrest in May.
Why it matters
The case involves a high-profile sports figure and corrects public misinformation regarding his whereabouts while addressing a serious criminal conviction.
Image source, Getty Images Image caption, Leon Baptiste was voted England athletics coach of the year at the Sporting Equals awards in 2023
An English athletics coach and former gold medallist said by media reports to be missing was given a 10-month prison sentence in Morocco for sexually assaulting a minor, BBC Sport can reveal.
Leon Baptiste, who was coaching a clutch of top British track athletes in the run-up to this summer's Commonwealth Games and European Championships, suddenly went off the grid more than three months ago.
Neither UK Athletics, for whom he worked as a consultant sprinting coach, nor the sprinters he coached knew why he was out of contact.
In May, Baptiste sent the group of athletes he coached a short message saying he would be absent from training "for a while". They have been given no further explanation.
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