Former Breathitt school baseball coach charged with distributing obscene matter to minor

The former head baseball coach at Breathitt County High School, an unpaid volunteer, has been indicted on charges of distributing obscene matter to minors, video voyuerism and other criminal offenses, according to school district officials and court records.

Alex Hamilton was indicted Tuesday on one count of tampering with physical evidence charge, two counts of video voyuerism, three counts of tampering with a witness, and six counts of distributing obscene matter to a minor, first offense.

The indictment alleged that he attempted to delete applications on his phone, that he filmed and distributed the sexual conduct of another person without their permission, and that he sent it to a minor.

Breathitt Superintendent Phillip Watts said Hamilton was identified as the head coach. “Volunteer,” Watts said, means that although a thorough background check was performed prior to working with the program, he was not an employee of the school district. He donated his time to the district and was not compensated for his volunteer service, Watts said.

Watts said Breathitt County Schools was made aware of a situation last spring concerning allegations of inappropriate behavior by a volunteer baseball coach.

“The matter was reported to local law enforcement and the coach has not been actively involved with our baseball program since that time,” Watts said.

“Our priority is the safety and welfare of all students. Although this deals with a former volunteer baseball coach, we always strive to work with law enforcement and the community to protect each and every one of our students. This is an active Kentucky State Police investigation, all questions are referred to law enforcement officials,” said Watts.

An arraignment is scheduled for November 18 in Breathitt Circuit Court.

This story was originally published November 3, 2022 at 4:30 PM.