October 1, 2013 Crystal Lake Babe Ruth Baseball Response to charges against a former volunteer The Board of the

Crystal Lake Babe Ruth Baseball League is individually and as an organization upset and shocked by the news that Marc Sabo, a volunteer director and manager with the league, faces charges of possessing child pornography on his personal computer. These charges are based on activities that occurred during his own personal and private time. These alleged activities did not involve CLBR property or equipment and did not expose any CLBR athletes, based on our knowledge of the ongoing investigation. The CLBR has a 53-year record of offering athletes a safe and nurturing environment to practice and polish their baseball skills and we will continue to be a community leader in developing future athletes. While Marc Sabos private matter is played out in court, we have retained attorney and former county prosecutor Bill Bligh to follow the case and we pledge to keep our stakeholders abreast of developments, if they are relevant to the activities and athletes in our league. Mr. Bligh has contacted law enforcement and we have no preliminary indication that the photographs in question depict players or any local youth. During Marcs tenure, we have not been aware of complaints against him related to any of these charges. No one on our board had any knowledge or reports of inappropriate interactions between Marc Sabo and athletes. Immediately after being charged, the Crystal Lake Babe Ruth League revoked Marcs positions and he was barred from having contact with athletes and the league itself. Since its inception, the Crystal Lake Babe Ruth League has had long-standing and strong policies to protect our athletes during games and practices, and we had no knowledge that those policies were violated. We comply with Babe Ruth League national standards on criminal and sex offender background checks for anyone directly involved with players.

To ensure our standards keep pace with the latest practices, we have asked Mr. Bligh to review and suggest ways to make our policies even stronger, with the understanding no entity can control what volunteers choose to do on their own personal and private time. Crystal Lake Babe Ruth Baseball has a 53-year history of providing thousands of kids with the chance to practice and improve their baseball skills. The leadership of our non-profit organization is proud of the dedicated families, volunteers and sponsors who love baseball and value the role of team sports in building strong minds and communities. We will work to continue to strengthen that commitment to our community for years to come. Sincerely, Rick Reilly President, Crystal Lake Babe Ruth Baseball