Coach at Philly Catholic high school charged with corrupting minor

Philadelphia police have arrested a Catholic school baseball coach on charges including corrupting the morals of a minor, simple assault, and furnishing alcohol to a minor.

Lou Spadaccini, 37, a coach at SS. John Neumann and Maria Goretti High School since 2006, has been placed on administrative leave.

John Murawski, the school president, said he’s surprised by the allegations.

“Coach Lou was an admired coach and an upstanding member of our community and the Neumann-Goretti family, and we’re really sad and shocked by the news,” Murawski said. “Obviously our deepest concern is the students and their welfare.”

Murawski said Spadaccini is now on administrative leave pending an investigation. He said all of the required criminal background checks and child abuse clearances were in place.

Crisis counselors are available, said Leslie Davila, director of the Office for Child and Youth Protection for the Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia.

“We’ll also work with the school in providing support to students, to the team members, to the family and to anyone who has been affected by this,” she said. “We’re dedicated to doing that and offer all the support we can to Neumann-Goretti and their community.”

School administrators sent a letter to school families informing them of the arrest and asking them to contact police with any additional information.